Dictators and Warlords
by AvatarPipTook
Summary: After jumping in front of the Spirit Weapon's beam to save Kuvira, the two enemies find themselves transported back into time.
1. Chapter 1

**I am posting this new story. Depending on how well it goes, I will continue to post this one instead of the follow up to _Impasse Terre_. **

**I do not own _The Legend of Korra. _Enjoy and please tell me your thoughts on this one!**

* * *

She found herself standing when her consciousness returned. Before, she remembered stepping in front of a beam from Kuvira's spirit cannon. Now, she was catching the dictator before she could fall to the ground. The metalbender's wits returned to her and she quickly threw herself out of the Avatar's arm. She stopped to look at the thick forest around them.

"Where… where are we?" she asked in a coarse tone, "Are we dead?"

Korra took a moment to look around. They were not dead for certain and it was not the Spirit World. She turned around and saw more trees.

"I don't even have the slightest idea of where we are."

When the Avatar turned to face the metalbender, Kuvira was clutching her side. She looked like she was in more pain since their fight. They spoke briefly about what had happened. Korra was able to get Kuvira to open up a bit about her reasons for doing what she did.

But while it cleared the air of questions, it did nothing to explain where they were. The Avatar lifted herself into a tree and began to climb it. Hopefully the height advantage would give her a clue. All around them were trees. To the northeast, there was a large mountain range. To the southwest was a large body of water and a hill. Korra turned back towards the mountains. The gap in between them looked familiar.

Her fearful assumption had to wait when Kuvira called for her. The Avatar was working her way down when she stopped to look at the columns of an army stop under her. They were questioning Kuvira over her appearance and injuries. From her view, Korra noticed the amount of weapons each man had. Straw and leather hats covered their heads and their leather and iron scaled armor was old for sure. She and Kuvira had managed to go back into the past. The vital question was, how far?

Apparently, they went far enough. Kuvira's metalbending scared most of them while the leader was in awe.

"What kind of witchcraft is this? How are you able to manipulate our weapons and armor?" the old man asked.

The metalbender scoffed, "Witchcraft? It is not witchcraft."

Korra dropped down in between the man and Kuvira, successfully scaring the man off of his ostrich-horse. Even the dictator stepped back some from the surprise.

"Just move along, uh." Korra studied him for a moment, wondering what to call him.

"General Ban Zhou of the Huashi Clan."

Apparently the name was of some importance to Kuvira. Korra watched as the woman's brow rose in curiosity. The Avatar waved her in towards the metalbender to explain later.

"Right, General Ban," she continued, "Just move your army along and we won't have issues."

The General was helped to his feet. He laughed the entire time.

"Leave you both alone?" he dusted himself off, "No. I should bring you both along and present you two to the Clan Leader. With someone that can manipulate iron and steel, our Clan can finally chase the others away and proclaim this land as ours. No, I can bring her along and take over the Clan. Then I win the land for us!"

The Avatar rubbed her forehead. The consequences of her last fight were catching up and dealing with another dictator was the last thing she wanted to do.

"She is my prisoner," Korra started, ignoring the glaring look from Kuvira, "And I will not allow you to take her. Now, last chance. Leave."

Several men with swords, spears and bows came running to their General's side after a quick hand signal. After finally losing her patience, Korra stomped the earth, shaking them. She then bent their weapons and set the wooden spears on fire.

"How can this be?" someone spoke with fear in his voice, "We were chasing the new Avatar, a fire tosser. How can you also be the Avatar?"

Settling down, Korra frowned, "That… is a question I can't answer right now. I will not ask again; leave us alone."

"How unfortunate for us," the General said as he turned to his men, "The fire tossers have their Avatar and now the water savages have another one. This does not bode well for us."

Korra sighed as he returned his gaze on her.

"Perhaps we should end you now before you find your people and convince them to have the will to fight again."

The Avatar cracked her knuckles. She was already weary from her earlier fight with Kuvira but the General in front of her was testing her patience.

"Are you being serious right now? How about this; you turn your army around and forget that we were even here. I won't find my kinsmen and we call it good," she paused before offering her ultimatum, "Or my injured friend and I will tear your primitive army apart with one hand behind each of our backs. I would hate to see what a fully realized Avatar can do to an army."

The General took his time to consider his options. His shoulders dropped before he responded.

"I will accept your offer, Avatar. We will leave you and the iron manipulator alone."

Korra let out a sigh of relief.

"But do not be naïve and believe that once word does get out about a second Avatar, that you will not be hunted. The people of Earth have not forgotten what the last water savage Avatar had done to our people. Onward men." The General then left them.

The Avatar and the metalbender watched them as the army moved on. Every one of the soldiers took a moment to glance at them in wonder. Their odd clothing stood out, especially Kuvira's bright, metal shoulder guards. After they were in the distance, Kuvira quickly turned to Korra.

"Korra," she started as her brow rose and she almost grinned, "We have a chance to finally fix the Earth Kingdom. We can help my people and set them up for success now."

"No." the Avatar exclaimed, "We are not changing the past. We have no idea what we could do if we did."

"These are my people. You don't understand. We can guide them properly and they will never have to suffer. I know I went too far in our time but here; we can make a difference and give them a strong leader to guide them. Think of the possibilities."

Korra shook her head, "As wonderful as it sounds, I feel that changing the past will only do more harm. What if we change something and it makes things worse? Or what if someone we love isn't born because we messed with the time?"

She paused to close her eyes. Taking in the energy around her, she breathed in.

"I'm not supposed to be here. The presence of two Avatars might throw the world into an imbalance." She then looked at Kuvira, "We might as well get used to being near each other. I'm not finding a way back without taking you with me."

Kuvira snorted before moaning in pain.

"But first things first; I need to heal your injuries and we need new clothes."

"I'm fine. I don't need you to help me again." She then sat down.

The Avatar's brow gathered in worry, "Yes you do."

The dictator forced herself to her feet. When Korra tried to help, she was pushed away.

"I can walk. There's no need of you to crush my pride further." Then her features softened, "Do you know where we are now, since you were in a tree."

"Yep." Korra responded quickly, "We're in Republic City… well where it will be. Maybe we can find Yu Dao?"

Kuvira shook her head, "No, it was a Fire Nation Colony, remember? It won't be there. We should follow the coast south. We should run into a fishing village."

"Towards Omashu?"

The dictator stopped in her steps, "I don't think Omashu is a city yet, but yes. You never studied history, did you?"

Korra snorted as she crossed her arms, "Not beyond Avatar Kuruk's time. The assumption was that I would be able to speak to my past lives if I needed a history lesson. Well, unfortunately for me, I'm a clean sheet when it comes to Avatars."

"Perfect. Lucky for you, I did study history during my time trying to unite the Earth Empire." Kuvira said as she turned away. Plans were already circling her mind.

* * *

Keeping their space from the army they were following, they soon found a fishing village. When they entered the small gate, the feeling of being stared at caused them to stop for a moment. For certain, all eyes from within the village gazed at them. Mentions of the blue cloth and Kuvira's strange uniform left the pair to quickly ask for a tailor.

Then came the matter of money. Much to her dislike, Kuvira ended up trading her metal shoulder guards. She formed it all into bricks of metal that could later be traded to a smith. The metal soon became the talk of the village as they had never seen such a pure metal.

Korra walked out of the tailor's shop first. She only had a short sleeved, green top made and wore it over her Water Tribe clothing. She traded her fur apron as she did not have a need for it. With ribbon in her hand, she pulled what she could of her hair back.

"It will have to do for now." She sighed.

The metabender walked out moments later in a longer robe. She wore a scowl on her face as she was braiding her hair.

"Feel better now?"

"I do," Korra responded, "We'll fit in with the times. At least a bit."

"Right, because your blue trousers and top don't stick out at all."

Korra was about to retort but her stomach interrupted her, "Let's just grab something to eat. It had been some time since I last ate."

Kuvira's stomach betrayed her too, "I suppose so."

They were directed to a small tavern close to the harbor. Again, everyone's eyes were on them as they entered. They were the only two women in the building as everyone else was either a fisherman or a sailor of some kind. They took seats in empty stools by the counter.

"Something strong to drink." Kuvira muttered as she set down some of the metal.

Korra gave her a look, "You're drinking?"

"What else are we going to do at the moment?" the metalbender responded as a bottle and two small cups were placed in front of her, "And something to eat, I suppose."

"Coming up, ladies." The bartender said.

Hours into sitting at the counter, Korra began to realize that the dictator had been pouring more drinks for the Avatar than herself. Her sight was beginning to blur and the Avatar's motor skills were horribly clumsy as she finished her sixth cup. It did not help that Kuvira had been speaking to someone else the entire time.

"Why aren't you drinking as much as I am?" She finally asked.

Kuvira grinned before leaning over towards the shady man on her left. Something was added to the Avatar's drink. She spoke into his ear before handing Korra another.

"Sleep well Avatar Korra." She said before standing, "I'm fixing the Earth Kingdom so that it won't fall into ill-tended hands."

Korra had taken the drink before the words became clear.

"Wait," she began to feel sleepy before crashing into the counter.

* * *

When she woke, Korra found herself in a cage. The floor was rocking back and forth, causing her headache to worsen.

"Kuvira!" she shouted, only to scare the other men around her in the cage.

"You're all up? Good."

She looked up to see the man Kuvira had been speaking to.

"Welcome to the 'Jovial Old Man' gentlemen and lady." He grinned widely, "You all belong to this ship and if you all want to see land again, then you all better work. There will be no breaks until I say you are free to go."

Korra cursed. She had just been stolen by pirates and Kuvira had planned it all out. Not only did she not know what year it was, she did not know where she was. The sound of a whip cracked out as the cage doors were opened.

"Now get a'movin' shark-snake bait. We have a ship to sail and goods to steal!"


	2. Chapter 2

The barring sun beat the enslaved sailors as they worked on the deck of the ship. The sea was giving them a break from the storm they had sailed through a few days before. Most of them were now repairing the sails. Korra was stuck taking sea salt out of the much needed water. She had learned that Kuvira told the pirate captain that she was one of the water savages and could help the ship out with her skills. The Avatar wanted to punch Kuvira's face in if they ever saw each other again even though she had learned her important life lessons of showing compassion for others.

"Hey there." She heard a cheerful voice from behind, "Need help?"

She turned finding that behind her was a man about her age. He was far too cheerful for being in this conscripted crew.

The man's brow rose in confusion, "I feel like I should know you yet I've never met anyone that can manipulate water."

Now that he mentioned it, Korra felt the same about him. She knew the answer was right in front of her too.

"The name's Nobu."

"Korra."

They stared at each other for a moment before Nobu spoke again, "Korra's a strange name."

"Uh-" she was about to answer before a whip crack sounded off near them.

"Get back to work and leave the water wrench alone. She has an important job to do if we all want to have clean water to drink." One of the captain's men shouted.

* * *

She wiped her brow after tying the repaired sail to the mast. Korra took a moment to tie the green over shirt around her head before continuing. Even with a slight breeze, it was warm on the ship as the sun's reflection from the water was often blinding. A part of her was thanking her heritage for the dark skin. Some of the lighter crew members were beginning to turn red from long exposures to the sun.

She had to heal some of their burns as the days continued. Healing with waterbending must have been a new finding as some of them would purposely come to her. Korra did not like being the only woman on board.

As tempting as it was to leave the ship, Korra still had no clue where they were. She needed to find Kuvira fast and then find a way back to their time. Or should she do it the other way around?

She shook her head of her thoughts. Looking down at everyone else on the ship, she had to help them first. As much as she did not want to change peoples' fate, seeing them slave away on a ship would be almost sickening. And now she was feeling like a hypocrite for telling Kuvira that it was wrong to change the past.

"She is going to sit alone in jail."

"Who is?"

Nobu cringed when Korra jumped in fright from his sudden question. Her arms flailed out as she fell backwards. She hit the deck with a hard thud. Nobu gave her an apologetic grin as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"My apologies, Korra. I didn't mean to scare you." He said as he held his hand out.

She took his hand and was immediately pulled up and close to him. He leaned in close to her ear.

"I'm planning munity. Meet us after the moon rises in the crew's quarters."

Korra blinked as the idea of thoughts eluded her. She then nodded out of habit.

"Great! Again, I apologize for scaring you." He said, leaving her to stand there in confusion.

* * *

Nighttime came and Korra shuffled down the stairs to the crew's quarters. Any energy she had when she woke up in the morning was gone. She hoped this little meeting did not last long. Nobu waved her over. Everyone excluding the captain's men was there. Korra once counted that there were about fifteen of them versus ten of the captain's men.

"Korra, sit quickly please." The now known firebender said, "Hong, watch the door please."

The tallest man on board, known as Hong, stood on the stairs close to her. He kept his attention on the door.

"Now that we are all here," the man said, "I spoke with you all about munity on the ship. I realize that most of you have the power to move earth and that it does not aid us here on this wooden ship. So we must plan this according to what we do have in order to achieve the best outcome."

He started to look at all of them, "Let us see; we have five with the power of fire including myself, one with water and the rest of you either have earth or none at all, right?"

There were nods throughout the crew.

"Brother Nobu," one of the firebenders spoke up after raising a hand, "The comet that provides us more strength with the power of fire will be coming soon. If we can hold out for another week, the comet could help us."

"No," one of the earthbenders stood, "The captain's men also have the power of fire. How will that aid us? We're in a dire need of weapons to allow the rest of us to have a chance. We need to break into their quarters and retrieve weapons."

Korra stood with her arms crossed also looking smug. Perhaps she was feeling overconfident but she knew that she could escape easily. Most of the captain's crew were novice benders anyways. Then again, she did not know how well these poor workers were trained, if at all.

"What about at night, when firebending is at its weakest?" Korra finally spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at her, expecting her to continue.

"We could, uh-" she looked at each of them, "Actually do it now. The moon's out and I think most of them are either getting ready for sleep or drinking. The night watch could easily be taken over. Then we can chain them up and lock them in their own cages."

"No, we throw them overboard. Evil men like them to not deserve to live."

Someone mentioned the kind stupidity of women. Korra snorted in objection.

Nobu waved his hands around to catch everyone attention, "Everyone, quiet. Korra's plan has merit to it."

"And how do we know you won't turn us in, Nobu. You have been jovial ever since we all woke up in this place."

The grey eyed man stood and bowed, "You can trust me because I am your Avatar. I stored away on this ship with intent of finding out who these men were... and also to escape a blood-thirsty warlord, but still."

The connection between her and him made sense now. They were sensing Raava in each other though they did not realize it.

Everyone else was feeling wary around him. They knew the history of the two previous Avatars aiding their kind before everyone else and feared he was about to do the same.

"How do we all know that you won't turn on us?" One man asked from the back.

"You have my word, that when this is done, I will make sure the ship returns to port and that none of you will be harmed by my hand. All I ask for is guidance on where to find a teacher for the other three elements."

Hong called out from the stairs, "You have been my friend on this ill-fated voyage. I would be honored to teach you the power of Earth, if you would have me. Unlike the others, your cheerful mood had given me the slightest sign of hope since we have been on this dreadful ship. I can vouch for him if the rest of you question his honor."

"Great!" Nobu said as he slapped his knee, "When shall we start?"

* * *

The door was cracked open to allow the person at the door to view out. Taking the waterbender's advice, they were going to take over the ship. The night watch was outside. The flames in their hands lit the deck up. The five enslaved firebenders were behind the door. Then the rest of the men.

Korra was told to wait behind. She stayed below and began to count to one hundred. The valiant men would take over the ship. That was what they said to her.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine," She then stretched as the fight was still going on above, "Time to end this."

She ran up the stairs and was instantly forced to duck from a swinging sword. She grabbed the man's arm, twisted him around and then kneed the man's back. The smell of smoke brought Korra's attention to the fires on the ship. A few men were trying to put out fires but they could not get water to the fires fast enough. After having to toss another attacking pirate overboard, Korra brought water up and showered the entire ship with water. There were moans and complaints but Korra was willing to ignore their words. When the fires were put out, she joined in the fight to overtake their enslavers.

With the captain taken as their only prisoner, Nobu took charge of getting the ship turned around. If the sea would allow it, it would take them two weeks to get back to the fishing village. Everyone on board was eager for their return home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews folks. Enjoy!**

* * *

When she was not helping the crew, Korra would hide away and meditate. A heavy feeling was slowing building inside her as a reminder that she did not belong here. She tried for the long shot of calling her past lives. A part of her hoped that this would reset her connection and that she could ask for help. Nothing came to her. Not wanting to let it bring her down, she tried to enter the Spirit World.

She opened her eyes to find herself in a brown swamp. This was a part of the Spirit World that she had not been to and it did not take long for her to learn that she was not wanted her. Several different spirits attacked her. Korra leaped out of the way, sliding through the water and under the roots of a tree before having to dodge another attack.

"You should not be here, Avatar. You do not belong." A long viper like spirit said.

"There is an unbalance in the world with two spirits of light."

Korra spun around another attacking spirit before calling out, "I'm sorry. Let me speak to you all. I need a way to get home."

"Avatar," another spirit began to speak in a cracking voice, "This world cannot hold two of you. One of you will die and end the cycle of the deceased. The world will be balanced again."

"What do you mean?" Korra asked as she tried to get one of them to stop. The spirits began to leave her, "Wait? What do you mean one of us will die?"

Her shoulders dropped as she was alone. In a bout of anger, she slammed her fist into the closest tree.

"Hey! I did nothing to harm you!" it shouted.

Korra recoiled as the spirit moved, "I'm so sorry. I did not realize you were… alive?"

"All trees are alive, Avatar." It declared.

The Avatar's jaw dropped for a moment before she gathered herself.

"You're right, in a way I suppose." she said, rubbing her arms, "I apologize again, but can you help me?"

"Seek the elder spirits. If anything in this world knows about the deep unknown, they would."

Korra let out a pout knowing that the choices between the older spirits also meant fighting for her life or sanity. Her shoulders dropped some more.

"Thanks." She said before having to return to the mortal world.

* * *

Her eyes shot open from the pounding on the door. Someone was shouting on the other side about getting food ready. She stood up and unhooked the latch.

"Woman," the bearded man ceased pounding on the door, "Have you ever cooked fished? Some of the others have caught some."

Korra reached out to flick the man's nose, "One, my name is Korra, not woman. Two, you probably don't want me cooking anything unless you want burned food."

The man's brow rose at her answer. They stared at each other, daring the other to start an argument.

"Just give me the damn fish. I'll manage to cook something."

"You are a strange woman."

"I hate this place."

Korra shut the door on him. She took a moment to take in the room she was in and sure enough, she picked the one with the food storage and cooking pots.

"It's just temporary." She told herself, "Deal with this time's shenanigans and then go back to my time."

Looking around the room again, she lingered on the sight of the pots. Her lower lip jutted out in a pout. This was going to end so badly.

* * *

After avoiding having to explain how she managed to get a fire going in the oven and the meal done for the crew, she said down at the bow of the ship. Korra began washing the pots before someone else decided to remind her of womanly tasks.

"Next they will be asking me to sing them lullabies and bedtime stories."

"Only if you can actually sing." Nobu said after sneaking up on her again. This time, he actually received a face full of salty water.

"Seriously, you need to stop doing that or I'm going to have to throw you overboard."

Nobu wiped the water from his face and let out a curt laugh, "If I had not seen you move water around when we took the ship, I probably would have not believed you. I just wanted to ask if you could do me the honor of teaching me the power of water."

"No." Korra answered quickly, leaving him to frown.

"You did not even think about it."

Blue eyes looked up, "I didn't have to. I'm not the one you want to teach you. Are you out of order with finding teachers anyways?"

"I am," Nobu said, placing a hand to his chin, "But I'm a bit impatient. I just feel like there is a bit of pressure perched on my shoulders."

"Tell me about it." Korra muttered to herself.

The firebender blinked before sitting down in front of her, "Alright. Where should I start?"

Korra looked at him, feeling slightly bothered, "It was a figure of speech. You really don't have to tell me."

"My apologies. It's just that I feel like there's a strong connection between us. Not the courting sort," he held his hands up, "Unless you want to."

"Nope." Korra shook her head slowly, still giving him a look, "I'm good in that department too."

"Are you sure you won't reconsider? I am a bit afraid of this and no one but you seems to understand this Avatar thing."

She let out a sigh as she gave him her full attention, "You want advice? Go explore the world and meet people. Find out their problems and help them."

"I'm just the son of a blacksmith. I did not know that I had the power of fire until I was fourteen." He then looked up, "When did you find out about being able to control water?"

Korra snickered, "I was four. It was quite the mess too. I accidently burned my father's set of nets."

"Burned?"

Her eyes widened, "Did I say burned? I thought I said froze."

"You are a terrible liar. I know, because I am too, and you did say burn. Now I am puzzled. How can you control two elements?"

Korra looked behind the young man before answering, "I may or may not be the Avatar thousands of years from now."

Nobu sat back on the railing of the ship with a thud, "I knew it! The spirits sent you because I'm going to be a terrible Avatar. Why am I cursed with this fate?"

Her eyes widened again, "Shh… I'm sure you were a great Avatar. It's really nothing to worr… and you're tearing up."

She began to pat his back, "Look Nobu, I'm sure you will be fine. I mean, I'm here talking to a past life."

His head shot up, "You can teach me all of the elements."

"No. I can't." Korra said after smacking his head, "I told you no. This is your journey, not mine. Besides, it would be weird to have a future live teach a past life, and then later teach that future life."

"Is there anything you can teach me?"

She studied him for a moment before smiling and flicking his head, "Use that head of yours well." She then tapped him softly with a fist into his chest, "And trust your heart."

"Nothing will go wrong then?"

"Uh," she responded, leaving him frowning again, "I would be lying to say that nothing will go wrong. I wouldn't be here if everything went right."

"Storm ahead!" they heard from across the ship. A strong gust of wind followed.

Sitting up, Korra looked at the clouds. They were dark and coming in fast.

"We're going to be busy." She warned.

"This just cannot go by easily."

* * *

The ship was being tossed around in the storm. The crew had taken down the sail and now Korra and Nobu stood on the deck. Hong stayed at the helm. She could tell that he was dedicated to working with Nobu.

"What's the plan?" the firebender shouted.

Korra planted her feet and froze them to the deck. She held a hand to her face to help keep the pouring rain from getting into her eyes.

"You're about to get a crash course on how insane the Avatar can be."

Before he could ask her to clarify, she began to move her arms in a circular motion. The strong wind continued to fight her as she tried to break up the storm. The sea was now crashing onto the deck of the ship as it threatened to throw it over the side. She was beginning to feel the strain in her ankles from being blown into.

"Korra, wave!" she heard through the wind.

Looking forward, she could see the incoming wave. Unlike the modern ships she was used to seeing, she know that this old one would not survive. Her eyes flashed once before she changed her stance and worked on the incoming wave. The ship sailed up and over the flattened wave as Korra fought to keep the ship upright.

When the ship reached the end of the storm, Korra fell backwards. She was breathing hard and covered her face.

"That was insane. You have to teach me that, Korra." She heard from above. Nobu was grinning like a fool.

"You get the next storm then."

Nobu threw his hands up in his defense, "We will all die if I do that."

Korra curled up in a ball. She was never going to sail again.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as the ship was docked, the earthbender Hong ran down to the ground. The normally quiet and serious earthbender was making quite the scene. He was hugging a self-made pillar of stone. Nobu was close behind, offering support to the joyful earthbender.

Korra watched them for a moment as she was adjusting the now weathered green shirt over her sleeveless blue one. She fixed her matted hair and pulled it back. The next fresh body of water would be her bath. For now, she needed to head somewhere to attempt to find Kuvira. She was weeks behind trying to find the metalbender.

"Korra, wait for us." She heard Nobu shout. The young woman stopped and turned as he and Hong followed, "Come with us. We are heading inland to find the monks."

She let out a pout, "I can't. I need to find someone that came with me."

"Even with your set of skills," Hong started with a sterner look, "You do not want to travel alone. There are men with wicked minds."

"Not to forget about the warlords. Some of them simply destroy everything and everyone." Nobu added, "If we help each other then we can both find what we seek."

The waterbender let out a huff, blowing her bangs off of the bridge of her nose.

* * *

After selling the ship and splitting the gold equally between the crew, the trio set off to head eastward. With speaking throughout the village, Korra learned that Kuvira did head east. Nobu and Hong also said that there was rumored to be a temple in the east where the monks gathered. They could only assume that the monks had the power of air.

Korra thought it was odd to see benders carry weapons like Nobu and Hong did. The two men picked out swords and bows to take along. Hong explained that it was because having a backup plan was always a good idea. The waterbender nodded and continued to follow the earthbender.

At their first camp, the earthbender unveiled that he had brought a small four-string instrument with him. Out of habit, Korra was expected to cook. She found that it was easier to get something going for three people and when someone was playing a song.

"I would love to bring you to the Festival of Colors," Hong began, "My entire village would come together for food, dancing, music and of course, the celebration of the natural colors. Perhaps if you are staying with us long enough, I will take you both there."

"That," Korra found herself interested now, "Actually sounds like a plan if I am still here."

She then listened to them for the rest of the night. Hong would play music and tell stories. The older bender sometimes would combine the two. Nobu attempted to tell stories but as he told them, he was not a word weaver.

* * *

They would camp and enjoy the evenings and walked during the day. Korra noticed that the land truly was different from her time. There were not always roads to follow and the villages were far and few as they headed away from the coast. She quickly understood why they both brought bows. Earth and firebending was often loud when they tried to hunt.

Then Hong handed the bow over to her.

"Try it, Korra. The spirits sent you back in time for a reason. Maybe living the way we do will help you."

While she knew she was strong, the bow was pushing her to use all of her strength. Even as skinny as Nobu was, he could pull the string back with ease but she struggled. Hong and Nobu laughed as she tried to pull the string back again. Her hand slipped as the arrow shot off into a bush.

"Let me guess," Nobu smiled, "You do not use bows in the future."

"I don't personally." She said as she walked off to retrieve the arrow.

She pushed through the bushes looking for the lost arrow. While she could hear Hong reassuring her that it was not necessary, she felt responsible for the arrow. As she trudged on, she failed to see the ground drop and she tumbled down. When Korra managed to stop, her jaw dropped. Before her was the apparition of herself when she was poisoned. She had not seen it since her fight in Zaofu and now it was staring at her again.

"You were supposed to be gone?" she stuttered out, "Why are you back? I'm past fearing Zaheer."

The specter rolled its neck before attacking. Korra rolled out of the way of the chain before firing back. The vision shifted around in a blink of an eye like the Avatar's attacks were not fast enough.

"Korra?"

She could hear the others calling for her and she leaped out of the way of another attack. The specter stopped when they caught up.

"We heard fighting." Nobu started, "Are you alright?"

"Please tell me you can see her." Korra said fearfully.

"See what?" Hong looked around trying to find this 'her' Korra was talking about.

The waterbender shook her head and the thing disappeared. The others could tell that she was shaken from whatever she was talking about. A noise to their right scared them into fight positions. A few bald headed men with tattoos walked out with their hands up.

"Please do not attack," one of them said, "We mean no harm. We heard something; like it was fighting of some kind and we had to come."

Korra's focus was a bit off when she looked up at the monks. She then brought her knees up and hugged them. She swatted at Nobu's offer to help her up.

"I'm alright. Just let me be for a moment." She said with more hostility than she wanted.

"Is there anything we can do to help you, Avatar?" one of the airbenders bowed, looking at Korra.

"He's the Avatar." She nonchalantly pointed at Nobu. This left the airbenders confused.

"Our apologies but we can sense the light spirit within you." One said.

Hong and Nobu glanced between the monks and Korra. She finally stood and began to storm off.

"You are greatly mistaken then." She retorted.

They watched as she headed back up the hill towards their camp. The firebender sighed and apologized to everyone before following.

"We just went through a traumatic experience." Hong simply said. The monks nodded in understanding.

When Nobu found her, Korra was already meditating. He tried calling her name but there was no response. He sat down and waited.

* * *

The Spirit World was a mess when she entered. The spirits reminded her of her unneeded existence but they did not attack this time. They left her alone to wander the darkened world.

"Happy thoughts Korra," she told herself, "I need a spirit to help me but which one?"

She could ask the Moon and Ocean but she did not know if they had moved to the Mortal World yet. She feared the tricks Koh could play. It was a gamble trying to wait for the face stealer's mother.

"Why didn't I think of it sooner," she slapped her forehead, "Raava might know."

She sat down in the water and was glad to see that her connection was not lost. The light spirit answered but she too was confused as to what was going on.

"I'm sorry Korra. I cannot recall anything like this from before." The spirit responded, "Do not give up hope though. We will find a way back."

"This is so frustrating."

"There is one we can try. You know where he is."

Korra sat silently for a moment, "I don't want to speak with him."

"He is harmless in his prison. Or you can try training Nobu and have him contact me."

"I don't want to cause too many more changes to this world. He has a path to follow so the world can continue in its linear self."

"You are paralyzing yourself again with fear, Korra. If you punish yourself too much, we will not go anywhere and one of us will die." Raava finished her lecture and left Korra to her own devices.

The Avatar then let herself fall back into the murky water. Everything was falling apart again. Korra lingered in the water until her chest hurt and she had to come up. The land around her changed and the Tree of Time stood before her. Now she was stuck having to talk with Vaatu.

Even the Spirit of Darkness was at a lost with her presence.

"Isn't it a bit early to begin preparing for Harmonic Convergence, Raava? Two of you? Have you lost your faith in the humans that you have been with already?"

Korra muttered something before answering, "I'm not here about Harmonic Convergence. I already won again in my time. I need your help with returning back to said time."

"Perhaps I could help you," the spirit hummed, "But I cannot do anything from this prison a previous life locked me in."

"Good try," Korra smirked, "But I'm not letting you out."

"Then I cannot aid your return."

Sighing in desperation, Korra shot back at him, "Well, can you guide me to another spirit? One that can help?"

"You should speak with the face stealer or the knowledge spirit."

Korra's face lit up. She had forgotten about Wan Shi Tong. She bowed, thanking the spirit.

"I look forward to our next meeting, Raava."

The Avatar grinned, "We'll see."

When she returned to the Mortal World, she found that her two fellow travelers were speaking with the airbenders. One of the monks was trying to show Nobu some basic steps when the young Avatar cried out.

"She has returned!"

"How are you feeling?" Hong asked, "You were frantic when you ran off."

Ignoring the airbenders for a moment, she spoke in a determined manner, "I need to find the Knowledge Spirit."


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is the reason I am changing the rating from T to M. I kinda planned the rating change when I started writing this anyways. Enjoy.**

* * *

Korra was a bit jealous of Nobu. As much as she loved Tenzin, the five airbenders were a bit more joyful. As they traveled on foot, the airbenders, and even Hong, would sing or play a song on the small instruments they had. She learned that they were on their way to a mastering and tattoo ceremony. The three of them were invited. Hong had his reservations about joining a bunch of monks but he did not want to upset Nobu.

Chophel was the elder of the five. He did not hide his age when he said that he was learning airbending with the previous Avatar. The older man was glad to hear that Nobu had no intentions of continuing the ongoing land war between element tribes and villages.

Jangbu and Jampo were actually twin brothers. Jampo was taller while Jangbu was broad like a typical earthbender. The duo constantly spoke in haikus. Korra swore that they were secreting teasing each other but it was hard to tell sometimes.

Poso reminded Korra of Tenzin. He was more set in his ways and finding true enlightenment. While he would join in on a song or two, he tended to keep quiet.

Lobsang was the youngest and most carefree. He would play games and tricks on the other three. Korra thought it was amusing but Nobu and Hong were becoming a bit irate with his sense of fun.

The five of them knew who Korra was after her ordeal in the Spirit World. She was a bit angry at Nobu, at first, because he did not hide who she was. Later though, Lobsang challenged her to a bit of airbending. He was curious to find out how future airbending was done. Then the monks spent hours trying to correct her more aggressive movements.

She also learned that Nobu was a natural at airbending. After a few tries, he was flicking her stray hairs out of her face.

"Water born, she is,  
The color red, her face turns,  
Fire is her soul."

Korra simply stayed next to the campfire and continued to stir the rice. Jangbu and Chophel were sitting next to her. The younger airbender tried to lighten her mood of jealousy towards the firebender.

"You are too serious, Avatar Korra." Jangbu started, "Enjoy the day."

She continued to sit in silence, thinking over the past few weeks. Korra was not ignoring him; in fact, she was listening and letting him speak. She was just puzzled at the return of her vision.

"Have you ever heard of someone having a hallucination so real that they feel like they are being attacked?" she asked, interrupting his next haiku.

"A hallucination? Many have dreams or visions of those they have lost and were connected to. May I ask what this vision is?" the older airbender asked. She grabbed his attention with her answer.

"It's of myself from three years ago. I thought I had finally moved on with seeing it when I spoke with the man that hurt me but now it's back."

Jangbu looked to Chophel for his answer. The older airbender looked concerned for a moment before he closed to his eyes to think over it. Korra and the twin airbender looked at each other. The waterbender feared that the old man had fallen asleep.

"When we reach the temple, come see me again, young Avatar. We will begin a path of freeing you from this thing you are haunted by." He said after opening his eyes, "It is strange to hear that you are haunted by a vision of yourself. From there, we will also begin a path of true freedom, if you decide so."

The waterbender shook her head, "Being the Avatar, I cannot find true enlightenment. I will always be connected to the world."

"Look out!" someone shouted as Nobu came running in. He was unbalanced from the game the other monks had him playing. He propelled himself up and over the camp fire, ruining the pot of food Korra had been working on.

"Sorry Korra." He grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck. She responded by throwing the hot rice that she was covered in on him.

"Right." She said after cleaning herself off and studying the red marks on her fingers, "I'm currently working while you are goofing off and making a mess."

The two Avatars had a bit of a standoff before they separated.

* * *

They were making great timing on foot as they continued eastward. Even being thousands of years in the past, Korra was beginning to make an estimate as to where they were in what she knew as the Earth Kingdom. They were certainly closer to where the Northern Air Temple was. The isolation to the rest of the world was being to bother her. Even during the six months of traveling the world alone, she at least could find a radio to listen to current events. Here, she knew nothing outside of rumors within a few villages they passed through.

So when they came upon a burning village, it was a surprise to all of them. Old and burnt blue banners were found while the dark green and crimson banners flew through the town and on the outer walls. Hong stopped for a moment and gave them a warning. He knew the colors well.

"These are the banners of the past Avatar's army." He warned, "We should go around this village."

"But there could be people that need our help?" the youngest airbender called out, "That is why we are traveling in the first place."

"Hush Lobsang." Chophel said, "Brother Hong knows the banner, as do I, and he is only giving us his advice but you are correct." He turned to face the earthbender, "We are committed to helping those whom need help. It is a sad sight, seeing an old friend's continued path of hatred."

"What are your reasons of hesitation?" Nobu asked the earthbender solemnly.

Hong ran a hand through his beard, "Now is not the time for a tale. All I can say is that these men are ruthless. I hardly imagine that the water weavers survived this attack. They should have moved to the northern sea like the rest of their kin did."

Chophel and the other monks bowed to Nobu, "Please Avatar, I only wish to enter and help any survivors with your permission. We understand the possibility of hostility but also consider those who are hurt and dying."

The firebender turned to his earthbending friend, "We have to. It is the duty of the Avatar to help, right?"

He looked to Korra for assurance. She simply stood in silence as it was not her place even if she wanted to help too.

The earthbender gave in and began to take his top knot down. He then gathered his hair and pulled it back, "Alright. Just be prepared for anything."

Inside the walls of the village, they could see the carnage and destruction done by the army. Fires burned homes and markets and the ground was unleveled by marks of earthbending.

'Burning all around,  
The heavy feeling is felt,  
Peace has left; gone far.'

"Jangbu, this is not the time." Posu spoke up.

Korra looked into the windows of the homes still erected. The rooms were left in disarray from looters. Then the sounds of an infant's crying could be heard. She did not hesitate in breaking in the window and climbing in. With a flame in her hand, she followed the sounds. Lobsang followed her. Under a pile of cloth and broken wood, they found the basket containing the infant girl and her dead mother. They both stopped to take in the sight of it with heavy hearts.

The waterbender then drew water from the air, "Help me look for signs of injury."

The young airbender followed her lead as he gently gathered the infant. He began removing the blankets to reveal only a few scratches on her face. Korra made sure to heal them.

"You can heal with the power of water? I have never seen it done before." Lobsang mentioned, "What a gift to have."

The wall behind them crashed and fractured behind them. Korra pushed the airbender and child down and surrendered her back to the splinters from the wall. She turned in pain to see an earthbender in brown leather armor like she saw months ago. He wore the dark green and crimson of the army Hong warned them about.

"Trespassers!" the man shouted in alarm. He then attacked, sending small earthen disks at her.

Korra brought up earth from under the wooden floor, again sending splinters everywhere, to block the attack before sending the stone to the soldier.

"Lobsang, get her out of here." She shouted before following the soldier she knocked over.

The airbender did as he was told and ran to the others. With them out of the way, she could focus at the gathering men. Her first move was to render their swords and spears useless. The iron weapons were forced from their owners' hands and thrown to the rooftops, leaving them stunned. Then she gave them a warning look. The first earthbender that attacked her soon regretted it as two slabs of earth came up on all of them with a crash. She flattened the earth over them before returning to her company.

She turned the corner and was forced to bend backwards from an incoming sword attack. After bending the weapon on her injured back, she kicked out at the man's knees to drop him before she pulled his extended arm back. Hitting out with a palm at the back of the man's neck, she sent him crashing into the ground. She then cuffed the man with his own sword and took off again.

In the main road through the village, the others were fighting off the soldiers. Insults from the soldiers were shouted at Hong as he fought them. Korra picked up on them calling him a traitor and a coward but the older earthbender fought on. A large stone disc then came through the air towards them. Korra screeched to a halt in the dirt to help Hong stop it and send it back.

* * *

The fighting ended with the Avatar's company standing above kneeling soldiers with ice cuffs around their wrists and ankles. Jampo helped with getting some of the splinters out of Korra's small wounds. Much to Hong's annoyance, the airbenders called to spare the soldiers' lives. He was standing over them with his sword in his hand. Hong was testing the sharpness of it.

"They fought and were defeated. There is nothing else to do." Chophel said arguing with the earthbender, "We will not allow the execution of them."

"Then what? We let them go and return to their warlord? They will give out our whereabouts. The warlords are looking for Nobu. Whoever has him will command power throughout these lands."

Nobu looked at the men on their knees, "Who is the man you hold your allegiance to?"

"Warlord Hui-Kun, grandson of Avatar Gang-Jin." One of the men said before using his chin to point at Hong, "His older brother."

All eyes were on Hong. The tall earthbender was still checking his sword and eyeing the men. Korra was watching in a bit of surreal suspense. She could not get over the scenery and smells of the village. Hong's hold over his sword only added to the horror. She knew in the back of her mind that he was not going to give into the airbenders' pleading.

"Avatar Nobu," the warlord's son said, "Take the airbenders out of the village. Korra and I will look for more survivors."

The firebender nodded as he was feeling powerless here. He led the pleading airbending monks out of the village. Chophel mentioned something of the brutality of the earthbender's grandfather.

"Are the monks as pitiful in your time, Korra?" Hong sat as he made is his final inspections. He then used his earthbending to put some space between the soldiers.

"Most of them are still new to their new powers. There are not a lot of them." She spoke with concern in her voice, "You're not going to kill them all are you?"

"What do you think? They likely raped and tortured the villagers here before killing them. You keep saying that you will not change the past so you will do nothing to stop me, correct?" He changed to another subject, "There is a pattern to the Avatar's teachers so far. Is it the same for you? A relative of the past Avatar trains the new one in their last required element?"

"My past life's son trained me in airbending, so I think it is safe to say that it is a pattern that still holds true."

"Then Nobu will have to forgive me. I knew since I first learned he was the Avatar that I would be teaching him the power of earth. It is better that I am the one that found him than my older brother." Hong looked at her with a look of murder in his eyes, "Welcome to the past, Avatar Korra. We are a cruel people with cruel ways."

His nose flared as he brought the sword down on the first man's neck. Korra looked away and cringed at the sound of the dying man and the others fearing death. She had to cover her ears as Hong continued down the row.


	6. Chapter 6

**Shifting away from Korra for a bit to see what Kuvira has been doing. I did not forget about her. Please review and enjoy!  
**

* * *

The gold and green banners of General Ban Zhou lined the valley camp. Men were working and training as their famed general walked through. He was inspecting them with a wicked grin on his face. Ban just received word on the Avatar's whereabouts and he was going to get himself an Avatar or two. Now he just had to make sure that his secret weapon was ready. Ignoring the person's privacy, he entered his new warrior's tent. Kuvira was still being fitted with her own brown leather armor over the new robes of General Ban Zhou's warlord leader.

Warlord Gang Huashi was due to arrive and review his favorite general's army before allowing them to hunt down the Avatar. With Kuvira in his hands, he would not only bring down both of them, he would also attempt to take over the Huashi clan for himself.

"Ah, my Lady Kuvira," he forced a smile upon his face and opened his arms out wide, "How are you fairing?"

The soldier that was aiding her pulled on the jerkin, squeezing her chest a bit too much.

"Tight." She coughed out as the boy apologized.

"My apologizes, Lady Kuvira. I am not used to fitting a woman into armor." He said with a fearful look on his face. The metalbender waved it off and offered better words of encouragement than the General would ever say.

The old man chuckled, "Do not be polite to them. They will never respect someone that treats them equally."

"I have to disagree, General Ban. I have led an army before."

"I would love to see how organized an army led by a woman looks in battle," he mused before grinning wickedly, "How about a wager, Lady Kuvira? I give you one of my companies. If you can successfully lead and win in a battle with them, I will offer you a spot at my side."

The metalbender felt one of her eyebrows twitch, "Fair enough, but if I lose?"

The old man stepped forward. His pleasant manner was replaced with a look of a man that dislikes competition.

"When you lose, since saying 'if' means that I validate your worth as equal to one of my male captains, you will still be at my side, not as a soldier and warrior, but as a concubine, waiting and doting my every need like a pretty woman such as yourself should be." He then grabbed her chin and shook her head in a playful, taunting way. She looked ready to fight him until he stepped back with a grin.

"Now, Captain Kai's old company is in need of another captain since he was killed in our last fight against Warlord Hui-Kun. They have a camp in the northern mountains. Bring me the heads of one hundred of the late Avatar's army and I will give you that company for good. If not, I hope you bring back clothing that is better suited for your stature."

Patience. Kuvira had made that her personal mantra since finding the old general again. At the right moment, she would over take his army as her own. Then she would begin uniting the people of earth as she had tried with the Earth Empire. Then and only then, would her people be on a right path to being one. The fights between kings and Ba Sing Se would not exist. The Hundred Year War would be won sooner. Her name would go down in history as the woman that united one people and protected them. For now, she just had to play General Ban into her hands.

She wrapped her long braid around her neck and left her tent to find her new company. She had soldiers to train before they could actually go fight.

* * *

Two weeks into their march into the northeast, Kuvira knew that her men already respected her. She was not breaking them and made sure that they were able to fight.

At first they were hesitant about following her. Some of the older men did not think she could fight. When they challenged her, they found out quickly why they should not doubt her ability. When she told them to take care of their injuries, their respect of her grew. General Ban would have kicked them when they were down, not offer a hand back to their feet.

After a month, they started calling her the Compassionate Leader. Kuvira snorted at the nickname but like she did with her Great Uniter title, she accepted her new one.

Unlike Korra's doubt of withholding the future, Kuvira embraced her knowledge and started to train them in metalbending. It took most of their time in camp trying to embrace the alien form of bending. They were going to know metalbending though. Before they would plan an attack on Warlord Hui-Kun her faithful men were going to be able to bend swords and armor.

* * *

Watching from afar, Kuvira sat with a graphite pen and paper making notes of the enemy camp below.

Like her soldiers, she was not wearing her black boots but was barefoot with the leather shin guards and cloth wrapped around her arches protect her feet against her natural element. The feeling was strange as she normally wore shoes. Some of the men teased her for having sensitive feet. She would smile after turning away from them. Trying something new would not hurt her and she decided to join them with not wearing shoes.

She closed her eyes and stomped at the ground once. She was counting the numbers of men in the camp. One hundred heads would be easy to pick up here if she had more than a hundred men herself. She stopped counting after two hundred. Kuvira returned to her camp with sketches in hand. Then she had everyone gather around her. She made a model of the camp from the earth under their feet and started to explain how they were going to win a fight against a larger foe.

* * *

Torches lit the enemy's camp. With the help of the moon, Kuvira and her men could see the patrols before them. After taking out a patrol, she signaled her archers and a few earthbenders to come to her. She reminded them of their duty in the present location before leading the rest of her men around the outside of the camp.

They stopped just at the hill that leads up to the temporary cloth walls of the camp. Using some of her Earth Empire metals, she rose the piece up just enough to catch the light of the moon. The light reflected back to her archers. Sudden lights flickered by the archers. She knew they were creating fires and were about set to light their arrows. A grinned grew on her face as the flaming arrows were sent into the camp. Once the camp woke to the sounds and smell of fire, the enemy fell into her trap.

"Now." She said softly to the men next to her before leading the way in.

The sudden attack by her divided forces caused the enemy to choose between the archers and the earthbenders that were forcing them into the direction of the archers. Even if the men under the green and crimson outnumbered Kuvira, they did not expect to see swords being forced from them. The nonbender force had no choice but to run. That when Kuvira's archers enjoyed the fight the most. The enemy was taking off what iron and steel armor they had on leaving them vulnerable to the arrows raining in on them as they retreated.

* * *

Kuvira paced in front of the prisoners. Her men had their swords ready. They waited for her command to execute like was expected by General Ban. She stopped and held a hand up.

"Wait." She spoke in a commanding tone, "I will give our prisoners one last chance in life if they swear their allegiance to me and only me. You would not be good to our people if you are dead. Instead, I want to take you all into my family. Under my command we will work in uniting our people instead of continuing this warring between warlords."

"Lady Kuvira, what about General Ban? We are a company under him." One of her soldiers asked.

"I will deal with General Ban. For now, what do our prisoners say? Will you follow me in uniting our People of Earth as one or will you accept an honorable death in which you can no longer protect your families?"

The younger soldiers fell to their elbows, pleading for their lives. They had not fought under the green and crimson banner as long as the stubborn older soldiers.

"We swear our life and families to you, Leader of Moving Iron."

Kuvira nodded to her men, "Untie them. They are to be accepted as ours although they will undergo a period of being watched to insure their new loyalty. Prove your loyalty to me and our banner and we will begin to train you on how to bend metals."

Her attention shifted to the men that did not move, "And of the rest of you?"

"We die for one banner. That is the banner of Warlord Hui-Kun. Take your witchcraft and die a painful death. You are nothing but an iron witch and your men are damned by the spirits with your curse."

Kuvira wanted to strike at him but she knew that she needed to stand firm. Looking at her company, she gave them a wave before walking away to the captured leader's tent. She wanted to escape the sounds of unnecessary deaths that she hated. Sitting down in the captured tent, she held her head in her hands.

"It's for the people this time." She told herself, "Don't lose yourself."

She took out a simple silver ring and looked it over like she had been doing the past few months since her last fight with Korra. The guilt of almost killing Bataar was getting to her as she was wishing she had his support.

"Lady Kuvira?"

Her head shot up and she cleared away any emotion that could betray her strength, "Yes?"

"The prisoners are dealt with. What are your new orders?"

She let in a deep breath before speaking again, "Prepare one hundred heads for General Ban and have a courier bring them to him. We have other fights to make to secure our spot. Also, I am proposing a change to our company banner. I want a tailor in here as soon as we find one."

"As you wish, Lady Kuvira." The man bowed before leaving.

Kuvira turned to the captured maps with a smile. She was not going to fail her people a second time.


	7. Chapter 7

She heard him call her name but she did not want to turn around. Korra was already disturbed about hearing the first decapitation and having to see the rest of it would make the situation worse.

"Avatar Korra." She did finally turn to see Hong's bloodied hands and the sword. He was offering it to her, "The last one is yours. You need to understand what Nobu needs to be in order to become a better Avatar than my grandfather was."

"By murdering those who have surrendered? I can't kill him! What kind of justice is that?"

"He is a murderer. He aided in killing these people; your ancestors by no doubt." He came closer with the sword, "Take it. His fate is sealed. Seal it for him."

Hong grabbed her arm and forced her to take the sword. The weight in her hand surprised her as the tip fell into the dirt. She lifted it up to look at it and then to the man that was pleading for forgiveness. She raised the sword up before tossing it into the air and blasting it with a powerful gust of wind to send it far away.

"I am not here to teach Nobu how to be the Avatar nor will I kill someone out of cold blood. He is asking for compassion and forgiveness for his actions."

The captured soldier sighed in relief. Hong shook his head.

"Then you force me to end his life in a slow and painful way." He said before burying the man under the earth and crushing him.

As soon as he looked up at the waterbender, his eyes grew wide as a fury of fire came towards him. He soon found that the Avatar of the future had been holding back during her fight before. Now she was unleashing it all of her pent up aggression on him. He could only hold his ground for so long until he was over taken by iron scraps lying around the destroyed village. Dust shot up into the air and soon dispersed as the light of the Avatar's eyes lit up. Hong waited for her fury to end his life. Instead, a thumb hit him hard in the forehead.

A vision of tall shinning building filled his thoughts. Strange metal beasts followed paved roads and there were giant metal flying beasts above. A masked man and a giant spirit in the bay were revealed. The scenery changed to a cave with several people. A liquefied metal came towards him. A vision of Avatar Korra in a fit of rage with chains around her. Then a giant metal man walked amongst the strange city. The threat of destruction of an Avatar in his time was heard. A pain was felt and he shot backwards in his metal bindings. Slowly he saw Korra stand up straight. She looked solemn as she turned away.

"What did you do?"

"You said that I should understand what Nobu needs to know. Well, now you know what I went through and I hope you understand why I was not going to kill that man. Why I did not kill you." She said softly, "When I say I cannot train Nobu there is a reason. My single goal right now is to keep the Avatar cycle going and return to my time with the woman I came here with. That is it."

Hong bowed his head in defeat, "I will not question your actions again, Avatar Korra. Your control over the elements surpasses anything I have ever experienced and for one so young."

Korra gave him a quick smile, "Oh, please don't tell Nobu about the spirits' message. That should be the least of his worries."

"Of course."

The others were surprised to see Hong limping when he and Korra found them. Both were eerily quiet and they did not answer questions about what happened. While the earthbender sat down in defeat, Korra left the camp to be alone. She went to the one place where she could think in peace.

* * *

"You should not be here Avatar." The spirits told her again, "One of you will die."

"Yeah, yeah. Something about an unbalance in the world. You have told me before." She sighed, "Where can I find Wan Shi Tong?"

"Perhaps you should try his library." One of the spirits said, leaving Korra to snort at the spirit's sarcasm.

"Where can I find his library?"

The world around her shifted and changed. The world around her grew dark and bleak. Before her was not the library but a dead and twisted tree. A heavy feeling of dread filled her as she walked towards it.

"Where are you going, human?" a small beetle spirit asked from the entrance of the tree, "This is the lair of the face stealer. Few enter willingly unless they are overconfident."

Korra stopped mid-step, "Koh? Why was I brought here? I was looking for Wan Shi Tong. Where can I find the knowledge spirit?"

"The knowledge spirit has shown interest in humans and their form of intelligence. You will have to look in your world. The face stealer is beginning to show interest in your appearance and so is Vaatu. You should not be here."

The Avatar rubbed her face. She was feeling stressed from lack of knowledge on where everyone was.

"Spirits are just now showing interest in humans now." She smiled, "That would mean that the Moon and Ocean have not become mortal yet. Where can I find them?"

"You will be able to find them here in the Spirit World but I must cut your time here. Return to your world, Avatar. You are in danger."

"Wha-?"

* * *

Korra returned just in time to leap out of the way of incoming arrows. She searched the trees for sign of the archers but found nothing. She waved an arm in front of her, surprisingly catching an arrow in her hand before she sent the ground before her rumbling. Nobu and Hong came up from behind to aid her in fighting of their attackers.

"Where are the airbenders?" she asked them.

"They are taking the child and heading straight to their temple. They said that it was a day away from here." Hong answered, "We will follow after getting rid of this threat."

"Where are these attackers?" Nobu asked as he came closer to Korra. He was once again looking for her guidance but she would not return it.

"You two go." She said.

The men looked at each other in confusion. Korra repeated herself a bit more assertively and they took off after the airbenders. The haunting message from the spirits repeated in her mind and if it came down to it, she would do everything with her power to make sure nothing happened to Nobu.

When she turned back to where she thought the archers were, the apparition of herself stared at her. She shouted at it to go way and stuck out at it before it could attack. The figure shifted before countering and Korra cried out in pain. Her right shoulder stung as her arm fell limp from pain. Not taking any more chances with the apparition or the archers, her left hand hit the ground and left the forest in front of her shaking. She then lit the trees and brush with a wall of flame before retreating.

She caught up with the other two after fighting through her apparition. It fought with her until she reached them and then it lingered.

"You're hurt?" she heard Nobu exclaim and she returned from her thoughts. The pain in her shoulder came back as well.

"Yeah," she cringed as she looked at it, "No one explained that I shouldn't catch these in my shoulder."

The other duo blinked at her as her joke passed them by.

"It's a joke. Someone get this out of me."

Another arrow hit the ground at their feet. Hong reached over and broke the arrow before shouting at them to run. The waterbender cried out in pain and cursed his name and family before following.

"Why did you do that? It hurts even more now." She shouted as they ran.

"Bush." Hong replied as he leaped over it.

Korra ran through it and was forced to stop as what was left of the arrow was getting caught. She understood his reasoning then. The earthbender stopped to turn around and hoist her onto his shoulders. She began to protest but settled down as rational thought entered her mind. She was slowing them down.

* * *

The Northern Air Temple was located, according to her guess, another week's worth of walking to the east compared to where the smaller Air Temple was. They finally caught up to the airbenders and cots were given to them to rest in. Some of the women nuns took the infant to tend to her needs.

Reunited and in a safer location, Jampo and Jangbo began teaching Nobu daily. Hong usually watched from afar with his stringed instrument in his hands. The four of them were becoming closer and Korra assumed that at least one of the twin airbenders would continue to join them on their journeys. Nobu's training was a daily thing until the ceremony.

While there were some similarities between this ceremony and Jinora's, Korra noted that there was more to it than just a revealing and wind chimes. Games and music were constantly going on and the waterbender was excited to eat food that she was not cooking.

* * *

She was rubbing her injured shoulder when Chophel and Poso came to take her to a private place. The elder airbender had not forgotten her issues that haunted her. They led her away from the living areas and into an opening. The midday sun lit it up, creating a circle on the ground under the trees. Various insects flew around as they sat.

"This is our most spiritual place near the temple. We are hoping that this will aid us with getting rid of this vision you are seeing." Chophel said as he crossed his legs, "Let us give this vision of Avatar Korra a place to move on to."

"Avatar Korra," Poso spoke next as he handed her incense, "Can you light these?"

She nodded and reached over with her right hand. Once lit, the monk would place them in the ground.

"Is it here now?" the elder asked.

Korra looked behind her, feeling the dead eyes on her, "She is."

"Let us meditate. I will guide us through."

* * *

"Hong, watch this!" Nobu said as he was standing on one of many wooden poles. He held a ball in his hand and tossed it into the air before blasting air at it.

"Enjoy the freedom they are giving you. When we begin our lessons on controlling earth, they will not be as welcoming."

'Air; giving us breath,  
Freedom is its true calling.  
Be the leaf, Nobu.'

'Earth; sturdy and hard,  
None may move its stubborn self.  
It will linger here.'

Hong rolled his eyes as Jangbo started to speak in his customary way. It did not help his sanity that the Avatar would urge him on.

"What about fire, Jangbo?" Nobu said as he caught the ball and sent it back to Jampo.

'Fire; power, life,  
Warmth it provides willingly,  
Recklessly, it ruins.'

The Avatar laughed, "How do you two do it all the time?"

'Practice makes perfect,  
One studies and then performs.  
Five, seven and five.'

The other brother spoke up as he scored a point, "And I win, Avatar Nobu. I hope you will consider another round?"

The firebender grinned as he brought the ball around. Hong sighed and began to play a song.


	8. Chapter 8

**Blah... writer's block got to and a class I had to complete that I needed to... leadership courses...  
**

**Anyways, a part of the first half of this chapter is based off of my liking of Nardragon's _Through the Headlines. _I freaking love it, especially the talk shows... so yeah. My shout out to that fanfic. Besides, Korra's getting bored. I'd sing in my socks too.**

* * *

Chophel and Poso had been trying for weeks to find a way to get rid of Korra's apparition. Their first attempt did nothing but give the Avatar a headache. They tried tying various colors of string in her room to catch it yet it did nothing but anger her when she tried to enter or leave.

Still frustrated, Korra was sitting with one of the nuns as she rocked the infant. They were not talking to each other but the silence was welcoming. Nobu was still going through his lessons and she had to hide or he would ask her to join in.

"Would you mind holding this little darling?" the nun asked. There was another standing beside her like she was just asked to help with something.

Korra opened her eyes and blinked before nodding. She stood and traded chairs. It did not take her long to begin rocking the child. The heavy feeling in her gut was making her sleepy from lack of moving about and she closed her eyes.

"I know you don't understand me," she started talking to the sleeping girl and to the silent room, "But what do you think this whole thing is? I'm past being afraid of those I have fought before. I reconnected with Raava yet she lingers and haunts me?"

Letting out a heavy sigh as the child could not answer, she instinctively cuddled closer, "A part of me is afraid that I'll mess everything up and end up staying here or dying in the Avatar State. My time needs me too and I'm stuck here trying to find a crazy woman. I just want a radio to listen to and instant noodles to eat." She smiled, "And Asami. She would figure out a way to help if she were here. I miss her terribly; her, Mako and Bolin. I only just reunited with them too."

She yawned as she shifted around in the chair to take a nap, "But first, we should find you a loving family. Technically, you could be a great-great-great-great-great-grand-mother times more to me, you know?"

* * *

"We interrupt this broadcast for an important bulletin. Avatar Korra had figured how to make a young, infant girl laugh and smile while avoiding the strange looks of old people. We suspect it is because she is thousands of years into the past and no one knows what a radio is. This is Shiro Korra Shinobi. Now, listen to these wonderful ads about the local community and what you can do to not lose your mind."

The Avatar suddenly ran out and slid across the floor as the baby continued to laugh at her antics. They had woken up together and after a quick feeding with a nun, Korra decided to spend more time with her. It was normally quiet and no one tried bothering her unless she actually needed something. Plus, she really was missing the radio and had been trying to mimic some of the broadcasters. She even tried mimicking the sound of some of her favorite jazz pieces. The infant, propped up by blankets, was watching her with interest.

"And next up on the Avatar Korra show, some more music by the musically inclined Avatar." She said before cupping her hands around her mouth.

She continued to show off her fake trombone playing when she heard someone cough from behind. Turning slowly as she realized that she had been caught being silly, she tried to come up with an explanation as to what she was doing. Her final answer came in a form of a shrug, which caused Hong to snort in laughter.

"Nobu just gave me the same expression mere moments before we found you."

"What can I say?" she started, "He was, is, a past life of mine."

"Facial expressions carry over into the next life?" the firebender asked as this was new information to him.

Korra shrugged again before Nobu did. Hong shook his head before informing Korra of what he had originally planned to tell her.

"There is a mining town a day's worth of walking from here. Nobu is taking a break from his lessons with the monks and I have not heard any news since we have come here. We were planning on taking a stroll there, learn some news and perhaps partake in some local activities."

She nodded and made sure to search for a nun before leaving with them. Lobsang joined them as they were heading out of the temple.

* * *

The village was blooming with townsfolk. It seemed like they showed up in time of a celebration. For Nobu and Hong, it meant meals with sorely missed meat. The four walked around the town, asking for news and taking in the sights. Besides some word of warlord movements, nothing came up that they were worried over.

They would continue to come into town every once in a while for the next few months. It meant news, good food and a chance for them to learn the whereabouts of certain warlords. Occasionally another one of the airbenders would join them.

This time when they entered the town, the four realized that it was not jubilant as before. The streets were empty of signs of life. Banners flew and they were new to them. At least until Korra spoke up.

"Kuvira." She growled, recognizing the Earth Empire symbol underneath some warlord's own.

"The woman you are seeking?" Nobu asked. Korra nodded.

The four of them walked the streets cautiously. Like the town they found the child in, they knew that they could be attacked at any moment. That is when they saw each other. Both green and blue eyes grew wide before Korra shouted.

"Kuvira! I'm not done with you!"

The metalbender dropped whatever she was writing on to prepare herself to fight. Her soldiers soon came to her after she shouted.

"Maybe alerting them to our presence was not the smartest plan?" Lobsang piped in as he worried about the number of soldiers.

Korra knew he was correct. They were far outnumbered now but there was no turning back. The Great Uniter was before her and capturing her now would save the Water Tribe Avatar time. Arrows rained down upon them, interrupting her thoughts. She and Hong brought up a stone wall to protect them. If she could get Kuvira, it would be great but she was not about to put the others' lives in danger.

She removed the wall searching for the dictator. Kuvira was shouting more orders about moving around to corner them.

_One of you will die…_

Korra turned to Nobu with a hint of fear in her tone. She would not let him die here, "Nobu, get the others out of here. I'll hold them off until you all leave."

The taller Avatar did not argue about her staying back again but he had to have a talk about what was going on with her. With help from Lobsang, he and the airbender deflected another wave of arrows before the two earthbenders interrupted the ground. While the soldiers were distracted, they took off.

The waterbending Avatar continued to fight off those that stayed. Kuvira never once left her sight. She was slinking around behind her men, watching with her utmost attention. She knew by now when Korra was holding back with her power and this was one of those moments. While the Avatar was busy with arrows, Kuvira gave the ground below her a stomp. She created a crevasse to knock her opponent off her feet. As Korra tried to counter it, another rock was sent towards her head. Again the Avatar went to counter but was grabbed by metal shards and forced down. One of the Great Uniter's soldiers took the chance of kicking the down Avatar.

* * *

When she woke up, Korra found that she was tied with rope and she had a headache. Her hands were bound close to her jaw line. She guessed it was to make her think about trying to firebend herself out of the rope. She let out a heavy sigh as she contemplated her place in the universe. Mostly, she was just looking for a way to escape without making too much noise. Then Kuvira walked in.

"How was your time with the pirates?" she asked with a smug grin.

Korra snorted, "Have you ever cooked for a bunch of idiots or spent all day in the sun trying to get salt out of water? That was my time with the pirates. In other words, not as good as I had hoped. I'm not meant to be a pirate."

"No snarky comments?"

"Nah," the Avatar shrugged, "I'd have to dumb them down for you. By the way, when I do get out of here, I'm not going to play nice. I told you not to start an army here."

One of Kuvira's eyebrows began twitching as she answered back, "There are lots of people to remove. I need your help to do it so we can create a better land for my people."

"We've talked about this. We're not messing with the timeline anymore than we have."

The dictator's facial expressions softened, "But what if we were meant to come back? What if we were given the chance to change things? Korra, I've never read anything about what we did. We went back in time!"

"This is not my place to change things. Avatar Nobu is the current Avatar. He will make what changes are necessary to make. Now untie me so we can find a way back."

They glared at each other for moments longer than they wanted. Neither wavered.

"Fine." Korra growled, "If you won't untie me then I will break out and drag you along with me."

Kuvira shook her head before calling a couple of her soldiers in, "Keep an eye on her. She can bend all the elements plus metal. I don't care what you do to keep her in line, just keep her alive until I can decide on what I want to do with her."

The two men bowed. They pulled wooden clubs out from their belts. Korra braced herself for their following actions.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here is the next one. Stuff gets a bit M rated towards the end of this chapter; just a heads up. Enjoy and review please!  
**

* * *

Nobu tried working through his practices to ease his mind. He knew Hong was pacing and Lobsang was meditating. They were still waiting on Korra to return. If there was anything he learned about her from the past seven months was that Korra always came back. So when he stopped Hong, all of his frustration began to come out.

"What is with her and making us leave when things become rough? She wants me to learn the elements from other people but when it comes to things like this, she takes care of it and makes us run away. I don't understand what she is doing."

The older man made him sit with him, "She's doing it all because the spirits are telling her that one of you will die in the Avatar State while there are two of you in one time. She's just protecting the world like is expected of the Avatar."

The firebender looked hurt, "So she doesn't think I can handle it then?"

"That's not what I said. She's throwing her life into these situations to make sure that you do become the Avatar the world needs."

With a pout, Nobu turned to look towards the town. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong and that they had to turn around.

"I think we should go find her." He finally said, "This is taking too long."

By this time, the trick playing airbender returned. He was happy to come along to find their missing friend.

* * *

Hong led them through town, carefully checking around the corners before moving again. After making the trips down to the town, he had memorized most of the town. The lack of townspeople was terrifying though.

As he was about to step out again, he stopped in surprised and pulled the younger benders with him. It made sense now as to why the town was empty. General Ban and Warlord Huashi were currently looking through the town.

"This just became even harder," he mentioned to Nobu and Lobsang, "This town is full of armies."

"They must have arrived after we left the town." The Avatar added.

The earthbender then led them down another street. After another close call, they moved to the rooftops. Nobu and Lobsang had no problem moving quickly while Hong was hesitant on leaping to the next building. By the time they found the building they suspected was holding their friend, it was nearly dark.

* * *

Kuvira hated being the lowly ranked officer again. While General Ban was taking credit for capturing Korra, she was left making sure the Avatar did not leave. She knew exactly why Ban was doing it too. Any failure on her part meant that the General was correct about her. Now, she had to make sure Korra stayed alive after allowing her men to beat the woman senseless. Low ranking officer…

Her plans had to wait again. Her meeting with the Warlord was not any better than dealing with General Ban. She was frustrated at their lack of appreciation of her deeds.

Kuvira stopped in the hall. She backpedaled to the hallway she just passed only to get a blast of air in her face. When she got up, she had to move away from the firebender's attack. Then the same firebender blew air at her.

"So you're the current Avatar then?" She said after sending the hallway crackling under her fist.

"Where's Korra?"

"Indisposed."

Nobu circled around Kuvira. As she turned, the ground below her began to shake. She twisted around Hong's attacks only to find that the monk had slid under her and blasted her upwards. The dictator slammed into the ceiling before the two airbenders moved the air around her and sent her into a wall.

When she rolled onto her stomach the three of them were cautiously heading towards her.

"You two go on and find Korra. I'll hold her off." The earthbender shouted.

She watched at the two began to serve and go through her soldiers as they came to her aid. Her focus was now on the earthbender. He attacked forcing Kuvira to move. Then they stood, waiting for the other to attack first.

* * *

The door to the cell was blasted open. Two soldiers stopped their conversation before attacking. Nobu circled before letting them have it. His flaming attack allowed Lobsang to get into the room and take the two out. Then they stopped to look at their friend on the ground. Her eyes were shut.

"All of this was unnecessary." The monk said softly as he checked Korra over, "There is no need for this kind of violence towards prisoners."

Nobu began to burn the rope off, "Let's hurry back to Hong then before they decide to give us the same treatment."

"Her eyes are glowing." The monk commented, "Is it wise to move her if she is speaking to someone in the Spirit World?"

"I don't know. I have not been there before."

The tall earthbender was breathing hard. His fight with Kuvira was rough as she did not move like a typical earthbender. Hong would go through his attacks only to watch her move around them and then strike at his weaknesses. He was reconsidering Korra's comment about her not training anyone. If they were going to fight this Iron Witch then they needed to know how to change their styles. Then the metal shards came at him. He was not ready for this attack, feeling his limbs get cut up. He brought up a wall to protect him.

Then he heard his attack out let a shout after being blasted again with air.

"Come on Hong," Nobu shouted, "We need to go. The whole town is about to flock to us."

The earthbender nodded before sealing the hallways.

* * *

She sat crossed-legged under the Tree of Time. She knew what would happen once she returned to her body but Korra still had stuff to do and being in a broken body was not going to get her help.

"Can you feel the pain, Raava?" Vaatu continued to harass her, "What do you think will happen if your body gives up living?"

Her eyebrows twitched in annoyance, "I am aware of how much pain I will be in when I return. No need to remind me."

She started her process over again once the darkness spirit stopped speaking. Then a sharp pain shot through her. Someone must be moving her. Knowing that she was not going to get anything else done here, she stood.

"Where are the Moon and Ocean spirits?" she asked Vaatu. A part of her knew he would skirt around a proper answer. She expected it.

"They are where you would expect them here in the Spirit World. Perhaps if you call on them, they will grant you their company."

Another volt of pain went through her, "I suppose that will have to wait. I have an injured body to return to."

"I hope for your sake, Raava, that it is not too broken. I look forward to meeting you again."

* * *

When she woke, she felt like she ran into a brick wall again and again. She looked down to see that the ground was moving quickly. She turned some to see that Nobu and Lobsang were carrying her and that Hong was limping in front of them. Nobu had a black eye and a few cuts. The monk seemed to be fine and free from injury.

"Water." She muttered, causing Nobu and Lobsang to stop in a hurry.

"Water?" Lobsang asked to make sure he heard correctly. A hand went to his drinking pouch.

"No," she said in a strained voice, "Get me to… a body of water."

They stopped at the first small brook. The tribeswoman forced herself to the water and laid in it for several minutes. She soon placed her hands to the side of her head to ease her headache. Nobu was crouched behind her. Korra had a feeling that she was about to be bombarded by questions. When he opened his mouth, she immediately stopped him.

"Not now. Please." She begged, "I can't take any questions right now."

* * *

She swallowed hard. Her arms were being jerked backwards as a couple of soldiers were holding her from trying to flee. Kuvira was now before General Ban and Warlord Huashi for her failure to keep her prisoner. The General was grinning widely as he was waiting for this moment.

"My Lord," General Ban soon started, "I recommend giving me the Lady Kuvira. Another concubine would greatly please me."

The warlord shook his head, "No. I will not grant you pleasure when you too, failed me by appointing a woman to lead. Some of my men also report that she was planning on usurping against me. I will be taking her iron manipulators in my personal army. You, General Ban, will be heading back west to take on Warlord Hui-Kun."

Kuvira mentally cursed. Remembering her history studies, General Ban went with the warlord to fight the old Avatar's army. He then made sure that Huashi did not survive. Now without the larger army, she had a feeling that General Ban was about to fight his last battle.

And Korra was right.

Warlord Huashi then walked up to her, placing a hand at her jaw. He studied her for a moment before ordering the soldiers around her.

"Strip her of my army's uniform, her pride and her dignity."

Another soldier walked up with a knife and began to remove the leather armor. Kuvira tried to fight him off but each time she tried to lash out, her arms were pulled back more. She tried to kick out and the man with the knife hit her in the stomach.

"Do not break her pretty face. I want something to look at as I break her for failing." The warlord chuckled.

Kuvira let her head fall in shame as her armor was taken from her. She was forced to look up at the warlord again. He held her braid in his hand.

"Even after fighting your hair is soft." He smirked before bringing it to his nose, "I could take General Ban's idea for you and make you mine."

She tried fighting, again, out of desperation. A hand grabbed the back of her head and pulled back.

"Stop fighting, Witch. I would prefer to bed you with limbs. It would make the experience better."

Now she had to get out of this mess. Once her blouse was ripped off and she was left in her chest bindings, she forced herself to her right to hit the man holding her right arm. Her left arm was pulled out of her socket but this pain would be worth having than the shame that was about to come. Once free, she pushed the warlord away with his iron armor.

Iron weapons were bent as she tried to force her way out. She knew being fair to her men was worth it because her company then joined in the fray. She was pulled away from the fight by a few of her loyal soldiers.

"Run, Lady Kuvira. You spared our lives before. We want to repay it."

She gave him a look of appreciation before limping away.

* * *

It was a day straight of running before she collapsed under a tree. The fear of being shamed was still running its course through her core and having gone a few days without a proper meal or sleep caught up to her. She hugged her knees with her good arm before letting the dam holding back tears break.

Her own greed back fired and Korra was nowhere in sight to help her this time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's the next one. This, again, has mature stuff in it.**

* * *

Afraid of bringing an army to the Air Temple, the four decided to hike south. Korra still wanted to go to the desert to find the spirit library despite her condition and needing to heal. They were a month or two from the edge since they were on foot and she still needed to be carried. She voiced that one of her ankles and a few ribs were broken. After splinting it without her boot on, they found rope and she tied it up tightly just in case she had to fight.

For now, they stopped in a village along the largest lake in the Earth Kingdom. Hong mentioned something about wanting to find them ostrich-horses to finish the trip but they needed money. In order to make money, he had to find work. Lobsang joined him as Nobu wanted to speak with Korra privately. He was scratching his growing beard as he sat down beside her.

"Hong told me that you were keeping what the spirits told you from me." He was blunt and she could see that he was annoyed with the fact.

She sighed as she slowly stretched out, "I just wanted to make sure you focused on your training."

"I know that I've been nervous about this whole Avatar thing but I want to help. I cannot hold back now. I have to help you get back without dying in this Avatar State too."

"Hong told you everything?"

Nobu nodded. She let out a long sigh before nodding with him, "Alright. I won't hold you back from making decisions about how we escape from trouble."

"Also, I want to learn how to go into the Spirit World."

Korra raised a brow in annoyance, "And you want me to teach you how?"

"You are the expert here with that. Even Lobsang's never been close to it."

"Then you are going to have to be patient with me. I'm not sure if I'm the right person to teach about spirits. It took me a long time to get into the Spirit World." Korra then grumbled, "Now I sound like Tenzin."

The firebender nodded, "When you recover of course. I do not want to add any extra stress."

Nodding, Korra slow got up. She mentioned something about wanting to sit in the lake for a bit. Her counterpart gave her a quick wave before returning his attention to the camp. He grumbled something about Lobsang giving him studies to do. The Water Tribe Avatar let out a painful laugh as she hobbled away.

* * *

It was painful but being able to sit in the water without her clothes on was relaxing. The waning moon was coming up over the lake giving her the power to continue working on easing the pain the bruises were giving her.

When the stars did come out, she sat back against a rock. The game of finding the constellations started in her mind but she was having issues trying to find them. It was becoming increasingly frustrating because even the North Star was out of place.

"Even the stars can't grant me something familiar." She grunted before trying to get up.

She was feeling a bit homesick for those she knew. She might not have been the best pen pal to her friends but at least in those lonely three years she could write them. Korra could not do that here. Then she wondered if everyone thought she was dead. She felt a horrible knot in her stomach from the idea of letting everyone down because she was gone again.

"It's getting late, Korra." She told herself, "I should get back."

She was slow to get her trousers, one boot and chest bindings on when she heard something move around her.

"Nobu?" she called out, getting into a modified fighting stance.

"Hello to you too, beautiful."

She shifted around in search of the voice. Fire came to her hands forcing the man to come out.

"No need to burn the forest down, fire tosser. I was just checking up on why a gorgeous woman such as yourself was out here alone and injured." He said as he came closer.

She spotted right away that he was some sort of warrior. His leather and fur armor gave it away. The amount of water pouches at his waist and back told her that he was either a waterbender or was thirsty all the time. His scruffy look gave her the impression that he did not care about appearances either.

"Nergüi's the name," he started again, "Who might you be?"

With her hands still up she growled back at him. It came to her that he might have been watching for a long time, "Take a step closer and I'll be forced to show you."

"Feisty." The man cringed, "I'm not one for challenges but I am willing to take this one."

The lake erupted just as the man took a step forward. He was encased in ice with a look of surprise. Korra screamed in pain as she had shifted on her injured ankle. She fell to a knee. Moments later, Nobu, Hong and Lobsang came in running.

"Korra, are you alright?" the firebender asked.

She sucked a breath in as her ankle continued to throb in pain, "No thanks to this idiot."

"You locked him in ice?" Lobsang added as his hand went over the frozen prison.

"Can someone let me out?" Nergüi asked as he tried to worm his way out, "My hands are stuck and I don't know how to get out if this."

Nobu was supporting his injured counterpart as she released him. To her aggravation, the rough looking man followed them back. He spoke the entire time about his mercenary work and how to properly flirt with women. With all his past experience, Hong had an idea on what to expect from the man.

"We're not interested in your services, Nergüi." The earthbender commented.

The waterbender then took it upon himself to stop them on the trail, "I was not trying to sell myself for work. I was merely trying to, uh-"

"You were trying to hook up with an easy, vulnerable target because you are a scum of a man." Korra snorted.

Nergüi snorted back in laughter, "Easy target? No… I was going to help you return to your village and perhaps ask for some kind of payment later."

"You were watching me, weren't you?" her eyes narrowed further.

He held a hand up, pinching the air some, "Perhaps a bit. I must say that I have never seen a woman with your… well, body type. Muscle, scars… I was quite intrigued."

Seconds later he was hold both hands to his nose. Korra had enough of his crude comments. She shook the stinging out of her right hand before wrapping her left arm around Nobu's neck.

"Ow! Honestly woman, how am I supposed to win the hearts of the dames if you keep attacking me?"

The monk commented, "Perhaps you should properly treat women as equals first? That may increase your chances."

The waterbender pointed, "Don't give me flirting tips, Monk. I bet you barely know the difference between men and woman besides the amount of hair on their heads."

"Enough, Nergüi. It would be for the best that you left our presence." Hong said, standing tall.

The waterbender met his stature before grinning, "Alright, big shot. I see how this is. You three have your whore and don't want to share but what if I said that I was merely looking after the lady? There are evil men in this world that would love to take advantage of an injured woman, skinny-dipping in the lake under a lovely crescent moon as the light softly reflects off of the surface. A gentle breeze in the air and the weather is fair for such a moment… Warlord Huashi's army is close by and he loves his whores."

"We are quite aware of the warlord's presence." Hong retorted, "If you don't want to meet him then go away."

"I have money." The waterbender smirked, "And I know that you four need rides to the desert."

"Go away." Nobu said as they continued.

"I know people that would love to know where the two Avatars are. Maybe if you let me come, they won't find out."

The four pushed him out of their way. They would be stopped once more as the mercenary held up the rest of Korra's clothes.

"She may want her shirt and robe back."

* * *

By the time the sun came back up, the ice prison had melted to allow Nergüi to get out of it. He found them at their camp while Lobsang was making breakfast. He was met swiftly with glaring looks.

"Alright, so we got off on the wrong foot yesterday."

"That is the understatement of the day." Korra muttered.

Nobu stood up. His normally shaky confidence was coming out as he spoke, "If you are going to stick around, at least make yourself useful. We need mounts to get to the desert. If you are going to continue to harass and threaten us, then get lost."

The mercenary gave them a frown. He scratched his rough beard before nodding, "Alright. I suppose I could go get some ostrich-horses. We'll need lots of water since we are going into a desert."

Before he could head into the village, he grabbed the monk, "Come on, airhead. While we're in town, we should introduce you to women. You'll be better for it."

"Don't make him do anything he doesn't want to do." Korra spoke up, "He's fine."

"She don't know what she's talking about," The mercenary glanced at Lobsang, "How old are you, kid?"

The monk looked confused as an arm was wrapped around his neck, "I have never considered what my age is. It is a part of freeing yourself from the world and simply living in it."

"Oh, then you are in for the best time of your life. A little change is good." The waterbender grinned.

* * *

What was going to become a short trip into the village became a field trip. It was a slow field trip. Hong had refused Korra's offer to heal his wounds and now they were both limping behind everyone else. The entire time, Nergüi had his arm wrapped around the monk's neck. He was telling stories that make the monk look like he was going to be ill.

"Nergüi," Hong shouted from behind, "Can you stop tormenting the monk?"

"And on the left here were this door comes into is the lovely town Men's Home." The mercenary continued, ignoring the earthbender, "We have some business here first, even if Hong doesn't want to go inside."

Standing outside of the brothel, Hong did consider it. It had been a long time since he last had this kind of fun. The waterbender wrapped his arm around the former soldier wearing a large grin.

"I know you want to. I have enough for all of us," the man sang, "Even Korra, if she wants to explore her other side. Which I would love to see. I can just picture Korra and one of these gorgeous women together in one room."

The Water Tribe Avatar did not respond as he rambled on. She was still angry from the night before. Korra was actually surprised that Nobu allowed the man to stay but it was not her place to deny him his fellowship. Although, she did need to slap him around some more once her ankle and ribs were better.

"What do you all say?" The mercenary continued, "Time to play before we all burn in the desert?"

Hong looked to Nobu as if he was pleading for permission. The firebending Avatar sighed, "Alright. I suppose it won't hurt too much. We are going to be away from other people for a long time."

"I will have to pass," Lobsang spoke up, "This place is too full of wrongful attachments that I do not want to be involved in."

The mercenary gave him a depressing look, "Your loss then. Come on, Korra. I know you have a wild side to you."

She returned to the present after spacing off, "I'm good, actually. I just want to get the ostrich-horses and prepare for the trip."

A pouch of coins was tossed to her, coming from the waterbender, "If you change your mind, there's enough for you to play."

"Are there places like these in your time too?" Lobsang asked. He still looked disturbed.

"I think there are." She responded, "I guess there are some things that just won't go away."

* * *

The two of them sat on the opposing side of the street. They had their rides ready and everything was packed. The Water Tribe Avatar had a cane as well to help with walking. It was now past midday and they were becoming a bit impatient. Korra was feeling sore again from moving a lot. She longed to be home and having to wait on men to finish their fun was getting on her nerves.

"I'm going in to get them." She finally said as her nose wrinkled, "This is taking too long."

"Shall I wait here then?" the airbender asked.

She gave him a sad smile, "I don't think you would like what you see in there. I'm a bit tentative myself but we need to leave. My patience has had it."

Taking a deep breath, she got up and headed into the building. She felt like she was just hit by a wall of smoke and other smells. The red glow from the candles did not help ease her. Korra waved the owner away as she was not interested in his offers for a woman or joining his business.

She spotted one woman that was not currently busy at a table. She looked so beaten and tired. It made her feel sick but again, she knew that this was not her place to change things. That would not stop her from speaking with President Raiko when she returned though. Glancing over again, Korra took the time to study the woman's face. Her eyes widened. She did not know if it was the smoke or that it had been a long time since she saw her again, but Korra swore that Asami was at the table.


	11. Chapter 11

**So... I don't often write smutty moments... The one bit in this is about the furthest I've gone with trying to write it. I don't write smut... even if it is a few lines.**

**Anyways, enjoy.**

* * *

Korra stood in her spot for a moment longer than she wanted to. The woman noticed that she was staring because she had gotten up from her seat and walked over. That moment was when the Avatar realized that this woman was not Asami; she just looked a bit… a lot like her. The woman was shorter and had brown eyes.

"So-" Korra cleared her throat and attempted to rub the back of her neck, "Sorry. I didn't mean to… stare. You just look like a friend of mine from home… that, uh-"

"It's fine." The woman said before noticing the Avatar's splinted ankle, "You are wounded. Why don't you come sit down?"

"Actually, I should be getting my friends." Her blue eyes glanced down the hallway, "We were supposed to leave hours ago."

The woman gave her a hopeless look. Korra glanced down the hall again before offering to sit and talk over a bottle of plum wine that the Avatar was talked into buying with the mercenary's money. She learned that the woman had once had family but since the warlords want power, her village was ruined. Korra tried her best to not get angry because that's not what the woman needed. Yua, as she learned the woman's name was, moved closer when Korra started to share what she wanted of her background. There was nothing harmful in her mind; she was able to vent her frustrations about not being home, and how stupid Kuvira was. Also her issues with possibly falling in love with her best friend were brought up too.

At that time, Korra was a bottle deep in plum wine and had forgotten about the others. For someone not Asami, Yua was doing a pretty good job at listening. The Water Tribe Avatar had a nagging feeling of wanting to kiss the Asami lookalike was growing stronger. It did not help her drunken mind that Yua was practically on top of her with soothing words.

* * *

Lobsang continued to sit outside with the animals. Occasionally someone would ask him for a word of wisdom from the monks and he gladly complied. Grinning like a small child, the monk also would help with giving the children ideas for pranks. Hong was never entertained by his games so the monk took advantage of the time he had.

Eventually, Nobu came out of the building. The firebending Avatar looked around with a confused look. No one was outside from his company. Much later while he was leaning against the brothel, Hong walked out.

"Where's everyone else?"

The Avatar shrugged, "I have no idea."

When Lobsang came running around the corner to catch a ball, he spotted them and waved.

"Where's Korra and Nergüi?" Hong asked.

"Korra went inside an hour ago to look for you three. Where she is now, I do not know. Can one get lost in there?" the monk responded.

Nobu and Hong looked at each other leaving the monk with a concerning look, "No way she..."

The earthbender urged them to follow him into the place. They had another rescue mission to do. The three of them barged in. Lobsang instantly covered his eyes and put his hand on Nobu's shoulder.

"Back for more gentlemen?" the owner asked.

"We're looking for two friends. Water weavers," Hong started, "Have you seen them?"

The owner pointed at Nergüi. The mercenary was walking out with two women under his arms.

"You managed to bring the monk in here?"

"We are strictly looking for you and Korra. We are about to leave." The airbender said, still covering his eyes.

The mercenary soon grinned as he clapped his hands once. He then rubbed them excitedly, "Let's go looking then."

They began to knock on doors looking for her. The four of them were yelled at for interrupting before settling on the second to last door in the hall. They were a bit surprised when they managed to get the door opened. They were met with wide blue eyes. Her hands left her hair to cover her chest as her face grew a deep red. The blacked haired woman was on the other side of the bed. Korra nearly shouted at them but the embarrassment got to her.

"I knew it." The waterbending mercenary said with a chuckle.

Lobsang turned away as Nobu and Hong tilted their heads slightly.

"We're, uh," Nobu started to speak, "About to leave."

Hong reached for the door, "We'll give you another thirty minutes. Let's, um, go find dinner gentlemen."

He shut the door as his own cheeks turned red. Hong was then forced with ushering the others outside. He apologized to Korra as they rushed down the hall.

* * *

She walked out with a hand covering her face. Korra was still feeling embarrassed as she limped to where the others were. What money she had from Nergüi was taken by the woman in the brothel for her services. Hong did not say anything when he handed her a wooden bowl of rice and meat. He did not have to. The expression on her face told him enough.

"So," Nergüi started, "Were you always into women?"

"I don't even want to answer that. It was stupid of me to do it. I just want to get on the road." She said as she stuffed her mouth with food.

"We all probably were tricked at our first brothel too, Korra." Hong said, "Don't take it too seriously. It happens."

"How is your ankle?" her counterpart asked.

"My ankle?" Korra asked with a stuffed mouth. She swallowed before answering, "Oh, right. It's, uh, fine right now. I'll be able to ride."

The men gave each other a look. The mercenary received a glare from Hong before they mounted up on the animals. He was about to comment on riding.

* * *

Almost one year she counted; nine months total. That was how long Kuvira had spent back in time. Since her escape from Warlord Huashi, she had been wandering alone. In that time, she had become self-reliant. Most villages had wanted posters for the Iron Witch. The metalbender was often forced to hunt for food and occasionally she had to steal it. She was often reminded of the time after her parents abandoned her and how she had to adapt until Suyin took her in. It was pathetic and demeaning of her last stature but she had to eat.

She was walking on the outskirts of the swamp. There was a bit of hesitation of going into it because spirit vines were a part of the reason she was thousands of years into the past. The swamp had other plans.

Her feet were forced from the ground and she was dragged.

* * *

She woke up in the darkness of the place. The sun's light was gone from the canopy. Being dragged probably caused her to hit her head along the way. She wiped her forehead to find barely dried blood. Kuvira could not do much about the cut as she did not have the clean cloth required to wrap it. In order to avoid allowing it to become infected, she had to leave.

"Kuvira." A sad voice sang out to her. The metalbender spun around looking for the person.

"Hello?"

"Kuvira, darling." The voice sang again, "What are you trying to prove?"

"Prove what to whom?" she shouted to the dark.

Her eyes continued to search the darkness. They stopped to focus on two small lights coming towards her. Fire lit up in its hand revealing a familiar face. Kuvira's brow began to knot together. She recognized the being as Korra after the final fight with the Red Lotus terrorists. A shriek sent a chill up the metalbender's back. She turned to see Korra holding a hand up. The vision in the Avatar State soon attacked.

"One of you will die."

"How is this related to me?" she asked herself.

The swamp answered with another vision. The one face she did not want to see ever again appeared in front of her.

"You embarrassed us."

"I did what I felt was right."

Turning to her left, the Great Uniter stood with indifference. More voices entered her mind.

"You're not relevant here anymore."

"You would make a lovely concubine."

"What good are you to us if you fail?" She turned back to her mother's disappointment.

Kuvira gritted her teeth before pressing her fingers into her temples, "Stop it! I was overly confident and a fool for thinking I could reunite the Earth Kingdom in the way I tried. I betrayed everyone I loved. Just stop tormenting me!"

The swamp cleared up from tormenting her with her own mind. She could barely see her reflection in the muddy water now. The blood on her face was still there, reminding her of her own immortality.

"How can I fix all of this?" she asked the swamp in hope of receiving an answer. She was met with silence.

* * *

She swatted blindly at the bumble-fly buzzing around her. Kuvira was still sleeping, curled under a few roots. She was not ready to wake up after the traumatizing night before but she was cold and wet. Shivering forced her to get up. The swamp did nothing else to her, allowing her to walk out with a fresh prospect on her actions. Finding and apologizing to Korra was the most important thing right now.


	12. Chapter 12

Their camp was under one of the few trees between the eastern lake and the plains. They had traveled along the northern shores of the two lakes for the past couple of months. The plan of getting there in a few months was taking much longer than they wanted. Warlords from all over the land were trying to find them now. The five of them had a quick skirmish with one of the last firebending warlords in the land.

When they had down time, Nobu was pushing through his airbending lessons in order to start his waterbending lessons from Nergüi. Sometimes Korra would watch but other times she was still trying to make contact with the Ocean and Moon spirits.

It was frustrating watching the mercenary teach. She knew to go with the flow with waterbending but this was all careless flowing. Nobu was also irritated because he enjoyed fast paced movements and actions.

Nergüi made a snarky comment and had to move because Nobu threw fire at him, "You're teaching so slow and without any order!"

"I'm a just go with the flow kinda man." The waterbender responded with a grin on his face, "You just have to let the water guide you."

The grey eyed Avatar looked to his counterpart for support, "Korra, what did your teacher do when you were learning how to move water?"

Korra sighed, fearing that she would be dragged into this, "Water is about redirecting and changing; it's the push and pull like the waves. Or something like that."

"Like using air then?"

She pushed herself up onto her feet and limped over to the lake they were near while finishing braiding her hair back. She then pushed Nergüi out of her way before calling the water to her hands.

"No, air is about no confrontation. Water is more about meeting that opposing force and redirecting." Korra then glanced at the mercenary, "You just have no sense of teaching."

"He asked. I said 'why not?' I never said that I was a great teacher."

"Show me." Nobu asked, "I want to see what you mean."

"I'm not teaching you how to waterbend. If you find a better teacher, you will learn in an easier way than from this moron."

Nergüi then grinned, "How about a little match then, Avatar Korra?"

Her brow rose at his idea, "Why would I want to fight you? I already know that you are not that great at waterbending."

"Well, I'm changing my ways. Since I can't make him understand what I'm seeing, I want you to help by fighting me."

"I'm not teaching him-"

"You won't be. We'll just be changing the way I teach as we spar." The waterbender then wagged his brow, "Besides, I can't wait to see you soaked in that blue shirt."

Nobu dove out of the way when the lake came to his counterpart's will. Nergüi really knew how to anger her. Besides, he did not really think the mercenary was that bad at moving water. The two waterbenders just had different ways of moving their element. Korra's form was how she explained it while Nergüi was lots of big waves and him having to run all the time.

He also had to remind himself that Korra was still on a sore ankle.

Hong and Lobsang returned from scouting ahead. They were not surprised to see the two waterbenders fighting each other. In fact, they expected it. There was still a strong sense of tension between them. Nergüi claimed that it was because the woman did not realize her feelings for him yet. Korra had gagged and claimed that she would never touch him in that way, even if she was the last woman alive.

Ten minutes later, they were still at each other's throats. Their camp was soaked and icebergs began floating away from the shore. Feeling tired, Korra encased the mercenary in rock to stop him.

"Feeling better about moving water around?" Nergüi asked the other Avatar.

"That was great." He responded, "I think that I understand it better."

As Korra sat down by the camp, Lobsang handed her a bowl of rice and broth, "Hungry?"

She glanced at the bowl before nodding, "Thanks."

* * *

Later that night, they were telling stories around the campfire. Hong had his string instrument out and was strumming something. Lobsang was in the middle of a long story about fruit pies and bumble-flies. Nergüi and Nobu were having a beard comparison after shaving. The earthbender had added his thoughts by saying that neither of them could even compare theirs to his.

"Is Korra mediating again?" Hong eventually asked. She had been quiet the entire time.

"She felt like she needed to clear her thoughts." The airbender answered, "She voiced her decision when we were eating."

They watched for a moment before returning to their stories.

* * *

In the Spirit World, Korra and Vaatu were in a heated argument. She was tired of him interrupting her and told him that he was being too subtle when she asked questions.

"You already know that I'm going to win in the future. Just help me find a spirit that will help me. Stop resisting."

Vaatu laughed, "And not be able to see you squirm as you become even more frustrated? Perhaps you are not ready to leave this time just yet."

"I'm more than ready to leave. I can still feel that I'm not supposed to be here." Korra stopped to allow her arms to drop, "I'm tired of fighting you. I don't even know why I keep coming here. I'm going to go meet with Koh and then hopefully I will find Wan Shi Tong or the Moon and Ocean."

The dark spirit laughed before the land shifted around her, "Enjoy your time with the face-stealer, Raava. I cannot wait to hear about what happens."

The land stopped, placing her into the grayed and dead parts of the Spirit World. She let out a sigh as she tried to gather her nerves. The beetle spirit from before was again there and questioning her.

"I need to know how to get back. It's taking forever to go find Wan Shi Tong and I just want to get home." She explained with little patience.

The spirit let out a sigh, "You are persistent, Avatar. Going home will be the least of your worries if the face-stealer gets his way."

"Well, he's not going to get his way." Korra responded. She glanced at the hole in the ground and let out a breath, "In I go."

She hesitated for a moment longer. The spirit beside her was giving her a look. She responded with her own annoyed look.

"Don't give me that look. I've never dealt with him before."

"Then why are you going in?" A few more spirits showed up with their concern.

Korra sat down with them to think it over. Why was she going in? Perhaps it was to find a way because Wan Shi Tong would not have a book or tome over it and there were her own personal thoughts on the owl that betrayed her; that was one reason. She could be crazy, but then again, she kind of knew that already.

"No, I have to. I don't think he has anything personal against the Avatar in this time… yet, so I think that I will be fine."

She stood and brushed the dirt off of her. With one last glance towards the friendly spirits, she walked in. As the tunnel became darker, she felt like a creeping feeling was inching its way into her. She was wishing that she had her bending with her even if a little voice in the back of her mind was telling her that throwing fire at Koh would not end well.

"Hello?" she called out. A faint sign of being afraid could be heard in her tone. Her sanity was in doubt right now. She knew that much.

"Greetings Avatar," a voice responded, giving off an echo, "It is about time one of you comes here to meet me. I was getting worried that Raava had forgotten me."

"If it makes you feel better, this is the first time for me too." She tried to lighten the mood.

"Perhaps in this time," the spirit continued. She could not see him yet, "But word is that you came from the future. This would not be our first time meeting in a sort of way for you."

She did not know how to make of his words. She was not here for proper greetings. Keeping this meeting short meant she did not have to deal with him.

"I need your help."

"I know." She could finally see him as he shifted around again in the dark. He had yet to try anything, "You want a way back home. This time is too ancient for you and you can feel that you are not wanted here. I fear that the answer had always been in front of you but you cannot yet see it. So you come ready to risk everything to return."

She fought the urge to raise one of her eyebrows, questionably, at him, "How so?"

"You tell me, Avatar. You somehow found your way here. What possibly happened to cause you to rip open a path here? But please, step up a bit. I want to see that pretty face of yours."

She stayed where she was. Korra was not going to get into an argument with him. Her thoughts were running through her mind far too quickly for her own comfort, 'What did happen? Oh yeah, the cannon thing.'

"How am I supposed to make a weapon like that here?" she asked herself, forgetting about her company. Korra then felt something run across her shoulder sending chills through her. She forced herself to stay calm by closing her eyes. She counted to ten before opening her eyes. She was met with a terrifying face of some devilish spirit. Before she could react to the bloody thing, a light went off. Both Koh and Korra pulled away. Something grabbed her hand and started to take her away.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Stinky." The new voice said, "When we spirits warn you of the face-stealer, you should take heed."

The Avatar's hands went to her face. Satisfied that she still had it, she looked at her old friend.

"Aye-aye?" Korra said in surprise, "How- how did you know who I was? Where I was?"

"Still dumb as always." The spirit teased, "The light spirit is felt by all even if you are not the one of this time. Your connection is stronger than any of these humans that held the spirit before. Also, some of the other spirits told me you went inside. I was not about to let him do his wicked intentions on you."

She then surprised him by hugging him, "Thank you. I was a fool to go in there."

"We are all aware of that." The spirit smiled before adding one last playful insult, "Stinky."

* * *

When she returned, Korra allowed herself to backwards on the ground behind her. She was relieved that dealing with Koh was over with. She made a mental note never to deal with him again.

"How was it?" Nobu asked, bringing her back to the current camp.

She looked at the counterpart with a smile, "It was fine for the most part. I think we may have a direction to follow."

"Are we still heading into the desert?" the earthbender asked.

Korra looked at each other them. She knew her answer.


	13. Chapter 13

His army was marching hard. Warlord Huashi knew he was still on the Avatar's trail. The group they were following had someone with a good head on his shoulders because they were making their path harder to follow. The sands of the Si Wong Desert were in front of him and the footprints were being erased.

"Warlord Huashi," one of his messengers spoke hesitantly, "We received word that General Ban has lost against Warlord Hui-Kun. The message also said that Warlord Shinju has offered the Avatar's Army some sort of treaty. Warlord Hui-Kun now has fire tossers in his ranks."

The warlord ran a hand through his beard. He did not seem worried about the lost. In fact, it was almost a relief. He had one less man to worry about stabbing him in the back.

"No matter. I have the Iron Witch's men with me. Their weapons and armor will be rendered useless and we will have them wishing that they died off with General Ban. Send a message to the village of Omashu. I have an offer for those peasants. Also, send a message to the Lord-less warriors in the southern province. They will want to join me now."

"Is there anything else, my Lord Huashi?"

"Start raising the funds to our army and begin conscription of all able-bodied men. I want to finish this war between the warlords before the end of winter."

* * *

Korra had to constantly remind herself that this was not her time. The desert at first seemed to never appear. Grasslands went on for miles before they found the first signs of sand. Then she, Nobu and Lobsang worked hard to make sure there was some sort of wind current blowing their footprints away. At the first signal of any civilization, they traded their ostrich-horses for a camel and clothes better suited for the heat. A change of clothes was good. Korra knew that hers were a string away from falling off in a comical way. Sort of.

The local herders showed them the caravan paths to take in order to go further into the desert. They spoke that there were trading posts along the way.

"Have you ever been here before?" Hong asked her as she covered her head with a hood. The rest of them were doing the same.

"I have but I never walked it. I flew over it and later had to help our sand glider move. I don't recall seeing this town at all."

"You flew?" Nobu's head perked up, "People can fly in the future?"

"Well," his counterpart hummed. She hated being called out, "Yes. We have machines that can. I once had to fight a man that could fly without need of anything."

Lobsang then went on about how freeing it would be to be able to fly without the aid of anything. Nobu followed along with the monk's vision. The idea was intriguing.

"I could meditate on top of mountains where the wind circles around. It would be a great experience as a young monk to do that."

At night, they stopped to camp. Nobu and Lobsang were playing some game of chance with their hands, resulting in Nobu's forehead being flicked. The firebender then tossed some sand at his teacher, resulting in them both laughing.

A makeshift shelter was made from the sand to help control the winds covering them with sand. Korra was attempting to stitch her boots up as they were falling apart from all of the walking she had done on them in the past year. Even riding helped with putting holes in. The sand was beginning to fill into the open seams and rubbed against her feet causing them to become sore. She was not the only one though.

"You can't sew, can you?" Nergüi hummed.

Her blue eyes looked up at his with a glaring look, "There are lots of things I do not know what to do. I didn't exactly grow up in a traditional home. So yes, I am trying to repair my boots."

Said boots then fell apart where she finished her repairs. She tried again before deciding to wrap cloth around the holes like everyone else was doing.

"It is agreed that we need to purchase new boots for everyone then?" the earthbender piped in. Everyone nodded. Hong then sighed, "Wrap your feet up with what we have then. Once we find someone that sells shoes, we'll make sure to get more."

* * *

She could not sleep and had told Nobu to get some. Korra was going to take the first watch and probably into the next hour or two as well. What Koh had said was troubling her. The thought of trying to remake Kuvira's spirit weapon here just to try and get back was almost horrifying. She did not want to bring that here.

In her boring watch, she managed to braid her hair back several times. It kept her entertained for a bit until she finally settled on bringing back the ponytails. The sound of shifting sand startled her. Her sudden movement must have also scared the man because he had jolted the reins of his steed before being tossed to the side.

The young man was from Warlord Huashi's army. He was soon forced to kneel as Hong stood over him with the same look he had in the raided town months before.

"Oh, this boy had messages on him," Nergüi said, bouncing around the soldier with a grin. He would mock the boy as he circled a few times. He would start to read them out loud, "Chief Qiang, my armies and I are currently on the trail of the new Avatar. He is a trouble making fire tosser that uses his status to control those around him. He was last known to be entering your lands. I greatly request that he is turned over to me. The reward will be most generous if he is handed over to me. Warlord Huashi. Hear that, Nobu? You are a nasty, dirty tyrant, wanted by his majesty, Warlord Huashi! Ruler of all the land. We are surely doomed to a pitiful fate because of your tyranny."

The waterbender even held up a richly made dagger, "And a gift. I might keep this."

Hong took the dagger, much to the waterbender's dislike, "Where is Lord Huashi now?"

"I won't give his location away." The soldier said defiantly.

"Answer me or your death will be slow and painful. You will be crying out to the spirits, begging for forgiveness when I am done."

"Hong please," Lobsang interrupted with concern, "Please do not end his life here."

"I am not setting him free. He'll only give off where we are."

Nergüi nodded in agreement with the earthbender, "Last thing we need to do is fight here in the desert against a well armed and well trained army. Burying him will be best lest we feel like fighting an army. I am too young to die now. I haven't even convinced Korra that I am the perfect man for her!"

She rolled her eyes. This was becoming a bit too much.

Soon an argument broke out between the four. Korra had jumped in on the airbender's side about not killing him. Nobu stood silently with his arms crossed as he was taking in both sides. He made up his decision already but was waiting to hear from all of them. He would occasionally glance down to see what the soldier's reactions were. The boy was giving them a stern look but it was only a shield against his fear of what was coming next.

"I promise a quick death," Nergüi shouted, towering over the Water Tribe woman, "Back down, Korra. This is not the time to forgive and forget. He's the enemy."

"I'm not asking to forgive and forget. I'm asking not to waste another life. We can turn him over to one of the villages."

"And you do not think they will not do the same we are?"

Korra stammered as she tried to come up with an answer.

The firebender soon interrupted, "Enough Korra. I agree with Nergüi and Hong. He will only endanger us." He then proceeded to signal that Hong should make this quick. The earthbender gave Korra a softer look before proceeding.

"That's it then?" she turned her anger onto her counterpart, "He was just a boy, Nobu. We're supposed to protect people. All people."

"Korra, stop." Nobu returned with the same fury in his voice, "There is a time and place to give fair justice. Right now is not that time. Things might be different in the future, Korra and I hope to be half the Avatar you are, but I'm not going to compromise what we have done so far. I am the Avatar of this period of time and my job is to make sure you go home alive and uninjured. I'm not hiding under your shadow anymore. If you don't like it then leave and find a way home. I know that I have warlords to take care of and people to unite so that your future can come without further harm."

She did not know if she was more surprised that he had actually shouted at her or that he was finally stepping up. Either way, she felt like she had shrunk under his comments. Now she knew how Tenzin felt when she shouted at him years ago. Putting her hands together in front of her, she bowed.

"I stepped out of line, Avatar Nobu. My feelings got in the way." She spoke calmly and without making eye contact, "I am not the Avatar here and I only mean to serve you with what guidance that you will see fit."

Nobu placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go then. We won't get any sleep tonight."

Lobsang stood over the messenger's body, muttering something before following them into the darkened desert.

* * *

They reached the outer walls of another desert town. From the looks of it, it was a well off trading post town. Watchmen with swords in their belts stood out by the gates, halting them from passing.

"Avatar Nobu, welcome to our humble village. Word has spread that you seek the Spirit Library of the Knowledge Spirit." One of the guards had introduced himself as the leader of the town's watch and advisor to the Chief, "Our Chieftain would like to meet with you before you leave. We prefer to escort visitors to the library in order to ensure their safety."

Nobu returned their bow, "Great! I look forward to meeting with him."

"First things first," the advisor spoke, "You will have to prove that you are committed to the people of our town by providing him with a gift."

"We have to provide a gift?" Nergüi shook his head.

"I was a blacksmith before I knew I was the Avatar." The firebending Avatar answered, slightly confused at their procedures to meeting their leader. He did not think they would be needing escorts to the library, "I believe that I can make him a sword worth of his position, if this would please him."

The man nodded, "And the final thing we ask of you is that you leave that… thing behind."

The man pointed. Korra scowled, "Let me guess; because I'm a woman?"

"Not at all. Women are respected here as they give life." The advisor said, still holding his finger out. He wagged his finger, meaning that he was pointing at the airbender, "Your monk companion is to stay out of our village. We have no hospitality for his kind here. They are always preaching about attachments and peace."

Nobu glanced at Lobsang. The airbender looked disappointed in being left behind. He made sure to speak his mind, "Monk Lobsang is my instructor for the element of air. He is also like a brother to me. I cannot just leave him here."

A hand touched his shoulder. Lobsang still looked disappointed but he was not going to interfere with Avatar business, "It is fine, Avatar Nobu. If this will give you allies for the future to come, then I will stay outside the walls. This is not a fight to make. Besides, I have some mediation to do."

"I'll stay with the airhead." Nergüi piped in. Everyone was giving him some sort of look of disbelief and warning, "Someone has to. Hey, I am not going to corrupt him. I think Korra did enough of that at our last outing."

The Water Tribe Avatar quickly returned with a pointed finger and a blush on her cheeks. She was about to retort before the advisor spoke up, "Let's not linger out here then. I have lots to share before you all can meet with him."

Nergüi wrapped an arm around the monk before waving them goodbye. His large grin meant that he had something in mind.


	14. Chapter 14

**Meine gute... Finally got this chapter done. I should have had it up a few days ago. Thanks for the reviews, Jokermask18 and Guest. I do love them. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Unlike most of the small desert towns and villages, this one was well off. Spices filled the markets with their strong fragrance. Guards stood at street corners to prevent theft. They could also see that the armed men stood around a large body of water. The streets were full of music, tales and stopped caravans.

Korra leaned in close to Hong as they continued to follow the advisor, "This is a trading post, right?"

The earthbender snorted as he answered, "I would feel safe to assume that this is 'the' trading post to go through while traveling the desert. I feel like we are about to see how controlling this town is over the surrounding land."

"And here is where you and your companions will be staying," the advisor said as they stopped in front of a small home, "I will be glad to show you the forge, Avatar Nobu. Our Gracious Chieftain would like to speak with you before the day is over. Please have a gift ready to be presented by then."

"And if we cannot?" Hong asked, interested in the other possibility.

The armed advisor smirked widely and spoke venomously, "Then the Chieftain will have no other choice than to imprison the Avatar and his friends. Punishment will most likely be buried alive in the sand as the wasp-vultures are allowed to eat from your bodies." He paused with a smile before continuing, "I do not think that Avatar Nobu will let our Chieftain down. He is truly interested in you, Avatar."

"About our two friends?" Nobu started to ask, catching the man's look of annoyance, "Are we allowed to make sure they have what they need to live outside of the walls?"

"I suppose if you must keep the monk alive, you may." The man said with a long, dramatic sigh, "Our Chieftain expects you three to have the evening meal with him tonight. I will return an hour before the meal. That gives you roughly nine hours to complete his gift."

Nobu bowed, "Of course."

As soon as the advisor left, Hong turned to Nobu. He looked ready to fight.

"We should leave. We can still follow the caravan trails to the library but I do not like this place. I fear for something worse to come to us if we stay." Korra soon nodded as the terms were a bit much.

The firebender smirked mischievously, "I, for some reason, want to meet this Chief Qiang. There may be some ill-intended plans on his part but I want to test my power against leaders. What's the worst that can happen?"

Hong let out a sigh, "He could ban you."

"Being banned isn't always a bad thing." Korra smiled as she crossed her arms. She was recalling President Raiko kicking her out of the city, "Sometimes good things can come from it."

"He could kill us like the Advisor said." Hong continued with a scowl on his face from her comment, "What kind of a man does not give us a name anyways? I don't like this."

"Then trade places with Nergüi." The younger man responded.

The earthbender let out a growl, "And you think some mercenary will be a better partner in this? No. I will not allow him to make a fool out of you. Nergüi is an idiot water weaving savage, no offence Korra."

She snorted in response. Nobu glanced at his counterpart. She was jutting her lip out some as she knew his next question, "No. I'm not telling you what you should do."

He frowned, "I was not going to ask your opinion. I was merely going to ask if you could help me make this sword. You have that, uh, ability to manipulate iron, correct?"

"Metalbending? I do." Korra rose a brow in question, "What do you need me to do?"

"Bending. You refer everything we do with the elements as bending. Why is that?" Nobu asked, skating around his own answer.

The Water Tribe Avatar stopped to think it over. Now that she thought about it, no one in this time ever referred to bending as bending, "Uh, I guess it is just what we all call it. It's been a term for centuries, I suppose. I don't exactly know when it became the official term."

"Bending." Nobu responded as if he were testing the sound of the word, "Right, I will need your metalbending for creating designs on the blade. I won't have the time to make them. Adding the word bending to each element really does make it easier to explain what I need in the elements."

"It sounds lazy as if the people of the future cannot express themselves without a deeper meaning behind their words." Hong commented.

"You are just looking for a fight, aren't you?" Korra looked about ready to size him up, "We're not lazy, just keen on how many words it takes to describe manipulating an element or two. It would take forever if I have to say 'the power of fire and water.' Oh Mr. Hong, please teach me thy power to move earth from here to there with thy magnificent magical earthen powers. I would be elated to study from your tutelage for I am but mere simple water savage who knows not how to neither speak nor act properly."

Hong was now laughing at her as she continued, "You want proper speech? I can continue. I was just getting into the groove of it."

Nobu coughed to interrupt them, "About the gift that we have nine hours to make in?"

Korra and Hong continued their standoff before they both apologized and followed Nobu to find a forge.

* * *

"You honestly never kissed a girl? Not even held one's hand?"

The monk shook his head as he tried to meditate, "Not once. Lust is an earthly attachment."

Nergüi's jaw fell open and stayed there, slowly gathering sand. Lobsang was a puzzle that he needed to crack open.

"How do you make more little air monks then if you have not ever touched a woman?"

Lobsang opened his eyes with a bewildered look. He did not have an answer for the now shirtless mercenary. He shrugged.

"To be honest, I would not even know where to begin trying to allure a woman to my side. It is not in my studies." The monk said after giving up on meditating in the hot sun.

Nergüi soon wrapped an arm around his neck like previous times. Lobsang tried to escape as the waterbender was obviously not used to such hot weather. The monk managed to move his arms to dry the other man of his sweat. The waterbender was coughing up sand.

"What was that for?" he continued to spit.

"You are a fairly dirty and smelly man." Lobsang said as he tried to move away, "It is a bit appalling. I apologize for my harsh words and tone but it is true."

"You don't like it, huh? This is how a real man smells, Lobsang."

"No wonder Korra cannot stand to be near you."

Nergüi held his hands up, "Hold on, Korra doesn't know better yet. She will soon though."

The monk sighed. He was beginning to wonder how long he would have to spend with the mercenary.

* * *

He slammed the borrowed hammer down on the heated metal. He had to pause to wipe his brow before moving to the next stage. Nobu was working as quickly as he could with what the village smith could provide him. They had taken apart the fancy dagger from Huashi. The firebending Avatar had made sure to give Hong and Korra tasks to add in making this quicker. The earthbender was preparing leather strips while Korra was in a room, preparing to add gold and any etchings that Nobu would need. She had already helped Nobu, cheating their way into making pressed rods. A few days worth of work was being forced into what little time they had.

A crowd was gathering as word passed that the Avatar was making a sword for the chieftain. Seeing that he did have curious eyes watching him, Nobu began showing off a bit. With Korra using her metalbending, he had more time to get everything right.

Hours later, they had a sword made and decorated with what gold came off of the dagger. Korra was hesitant to ask about the large jade gems but Nobu reassured that the richer it looked the better off it would be.

"One last thing Korra," the firebender said, holding up a quick sketch of cactus flowers, "I need you to add this to the blade."

She nodded as she took the sketch and the sword, "This might be one of the coolest things I have ever done."

Nobu and Hong glanced at each other, "Coolest? It's not cool at all. We're in a desert by a forge."

"Neat. It is neat." Korra responded with a bit of a growl.

The two men continued to tease her on their way back to their temporary home. They were all due a quick change of clothes before the advisor would return. When they opened the door, Nobu nearly dropped the sword at the sight of Nergüi and Lobsang. The monk had his head covered while the waterbender jumped up to greet them.

"Our monk can leap and bound over walls. This is a much better place than outside in the sun."

The earthbender growled, "You two are going to get us all killed."

There was a knock on the door. The monk and mercenary dove from their places to under a short table. Korra kicked some pillows up to block the view before Nobu opened the door. The advisor greeted them.

"Are you three ready?"

Nobu gave him a wide smile, "I hope we are."

* * *

A small stone-made cup sat at her feet. With a hood covering her head, Kuvira sat in a small village road. Since her short time in the swamp, she found no luck at trying to improve her situation. She tried to find work but finding something suitable she could do was almost impossible without revealing who she was.

The fear of failure and feeling unable to better her situation hit her hard. It was as if Korra was mocking her in her own mind since their conversation after the Avatar's save from the spirit weapon. Now, she did not know where the Avatar was.

The sound of a few coins entering her stone cup alerted her from her thoughts. Kuvira muttered her thanks before checking to see what she had. There were a few coins but also a note. She quickly unrolled the note.

_Warlord Huashi may not need your services but others are. Meet me in the alley behind the market place at dusk. Make sure to eat first. You will need your strength._

There was no name written which made her suspicious of the note. Her green eyes shot up into the crowded marketplace as she tried to figure out who gave her the note. The metalbender was not one to be called upon on a whim. With a tug at her hood, she stood as she pocketed the coins.

Kuvira would have to wait to find out who the man was. Her stomach reminded her, painfully, that she was hungry. She had been for several days.


	15. Chapter 15

What Korra assumed was the palace was nowhere close to the size of Ba Sing Se's but it gave off a better atmosphere. There was no feeling of someone lurking in the shadows. Even then they entered the Chieftain's hall, it felt welcoming. She was curious as to how this place disappeared now that she truly thought about it.

The sound of Hong clearing his throat brought her back. She quickly bowed as everyone else was doing.

"Greetings Chief Qiang." Nobu started as he held the sword perpendicular to the ground, "I am Avatar Nobu. I would like to thank you for allowing us to stay in your village."

"And who are you friends?" the seated man asked. He was wearing colorful robes with many fine jewels sewn into the tunic's collar. He was broad like most other of his kin.

Nobu stepped out of the way so he could introduce them, "This is Hong, second grandson of Avatar Gang-Jin. He is also my instructor in teaching me the power of earth." The earthbender looked slightly annoyed at his introduction. Nobu shifted again to introduce Korra but he hesitated for a moment, "And this is Korra… she is-"

"Avatar Nobu's instructor for fire." Hong said, trying to save them both from embarrassment.

"Fire you say?" Chief Qiang leaned in a bit, "I would almost assume she was one of the water savages from the north."

Korra was a bit at ease that nothing was said about her being an Avatar. Perhaps lack of long distance communication was not always a bad thing? Her thoughts were again interrupted.

"My advisor says that you have brought me a gift?"

Nobu stepped forward to present it, "A sword crafted by the hands of the Avatar, Gracious Chieftain. May it protect you and your village with such fierceness like the Avatar Spirit defends the balance of the world."

"I take it that you are not following your predecessors and forming an army to control?" the man seemed relieved at his words. He inspected the sword, finding it to his liking.

"I will only form an army if there is such a cause. I am not going to be like Avatar Gang-Jin and his predecessor. Once I have mastered the four elements, my plan will start."

Chief Qiang quickly stood. He clapped his hands once after allowing his gift to be taken away, "Come. I want to hear your plan about bring peace amongst the lands. We have food waiting in another room."

They quickly followed the village leader only to stop in their tracks at the sight and smells of the feast. Korra could smell the spices from the market; curry, turmeric and a few others that she was not used to smelling. She saw flatbreads, dates, figs, skewered meats and saffron rice. Of course, there were other foods that she did recognize from her recent travels in the past. The strangest thing was that there were no personal utensils.

"Come! Sit down and eat. My home is your home, Avatar Nobu. Water will come around so we may wash our hands before we eat." The chief said as he took his spot at the head of the table. He made sure that Nobu was at his right while Hong and Korra sat at his left.

"Hong," Korra leaned into his ear, "There are no utensils. What do I do?"

"Use the bread or your hand." Hong nodded towards the Chief, "Just do what he's doing."

While the three of them would not voice it, the meal felt like a guilty pleasure. Their plates were never bare and their drink was always refilled. Lobsang and Nergüi were going to hate them for the kind of meal they were having. Well, not so much Lobsang, Korra thought to herself.

"Oh, I would like to see a display of the elements." Chief Qiang soon said. He and Nobu had been talking the entire time. Hong was muttering something about how he and Korra were being ignored.

"Oh," Nobu frowned, "Right now? I have not learned all of them yet. I have only started learning two of them and Hong has not begun to teach me how to move earth yet. And, uh, it would be right after a brilliant meal. Surely you would not want to see what I ate again?"

Hong leaned into Korra's ear, "Let us hope that he does not have a daughter of marrying age."

Korra let out a snort as the chief spoke again, "You are correct. Perhaps in a bit? While we wait then, I would love to hear the plan you brought up earlier."

"Peace. Right," Nobu started, pausing to sip at his tea, "I have done plenty of thinking and before I met my teachers, lots of reading about the past two Avatars. With how they tried to use their power wrongfully, they caused a rift between people of each element. Then someone mentioned how the water sav- people have started to head north, past the shores. The Air Monks have separated themselves, for the most part, from the world."

He glanced at Korra for encouragement before finishing. She only gave him a smile, "I want to separate the elements into their own nations. I believe in doing that, the world will be better balanced without the constant fears of new warlords."

The chief sat back a bit in his spot at the table, "Separate, eh? How are you going to do this? There are lots of villages to move."

Nobu rubbed the back of his neck. He had not thought that much further, "Well, I am going to need lots of help. Also, I think that some of these warlords do have to be removed. I sort of expect this to take a long time. There is a chance that the next Avatar would also have to continue it. I have a good feeling about this plan though."

For the first time during the dinner, Chief Qiang turned to the Avatar's companions, "How do the two of you feel about this plan?"

"This is the first time I have heard this," Hong started, a bit surprised that he was being talked to, "But I feel like I can support it."

Korra swallowed her last bite of food. Everyone was looking at her for her opinion, "Great… it sounds great."

"You do not sound confident about this." The chief gave her a questionable look.

"No, no. I think it will work swimmingly. I'm not foreseeing any issues in the future…" She gave out a bit of a shriek when Hong pinched her side, "I have complete faith in Avatar Nobu's power… I mean plan."

She quickly hid in her cup of tea to stop from rambling on. Nobu now was giving her a glaring look, "What would you do if you were the Avatar and in my situation?"

'Damn you, Nobu,' she thought as she started to think about an answer, "For one, we can stop referring to those that move water around as savages. All of this hatred against each other is not going to help. Two, these warlords do need to stop causing terror across the lands. Maybe the Air Monks can teach us some things about compassion towards others and we can stop with these racist thoughts. Three, we need… to reunite everyone for the better good."

Korra was now receiving confusing looks, "Or separating people even further will work."

* * *

After a presentation of his knowledge of bending, the trio head back to their temporary home. It was good timing too because Korra was starting to feel left out again. She trailed behind Nobu and Hong before letting out a much need huff of air.

"I'm just going to head to the library alone. I can sense that we're not gelling like we used to and I don't want to get in the way of Nobu's training." She shoulders had dropped as she started speaking, "You have plans to start and a present time to maintain. Don't worry about tagging along with me."

The two men stopped, each with a raised brow. They looked at each other before shifting their confused looks onto her.

"Just because we both have different ways of doing things or speaking does not mean I am going to let you finish your way back alone." Her counterpart said, "Getting you back to your time is at the utmost importance right now. I may have tasks in my present to worry about but I also have to think about the future, correct?"

Korra nodded.

"Well, you are my future… granted a few thousand years into the future."

Hong let out a sigh, "Come on. We have a long journey tomorrow. We are not going to get to the library if we talk all night."

They were quiet for the rest of the way. Now they had to worry about how to get Lobsang out of the village without anyone seeing him. Of course, when they walked through the front door, they were greeted by a very naked Nergüi and a very red, but dressed, Lobsang.

Nobu started pulling at his hair while shouting through his teeth, "What are you doing to my air instructor?"

Hong gracefully held a hand up to block Korra's vision of what was going on. She swatted at his hand before dropping her jaw at the sight before them. At least Nergüi shaved a bit more. His beard was straightened out a bit and his hair was suitable for most peoples' tastes if they liked a large tuft of hair in the middle of their forehead.

"I knew she couldn't resist me. Korra has to adjust her jaw." The mercenary exclaimed.

"I think I understand the water savage name now. He is the poster child of savage." She said before excusing herself and stepping outside.

Nergüi shrugged, "I don't get it. Why doesn't she run into my arms? What does that whore have that I don't?"

"Brains." Hong answered, "Or perhaps Korra just is not interested in you."

"I tried to make him keep his clothes on," the monk started, almost sounding like he was in tears, "But I cannot control him."

Nobu patted his shoulder, "It is fine, Lobsang. Keep to your free spirit. This joker is nothing to worry over."

"We do have to worry about getting our monk out of the village before dawn." Hong reminded him.

"Right." The firebender started to rub his short beard in thought, "Korra is in a hurry to get to the library. We could leave tonight and use the advantage of the cooler air."

"Let's pack then. The caravan trails come through here. We can follow them. I want to get out of sight of this place before sleep starts to take us." The earthbender then turned to where their things were, "And Nergüi, put some clothes on."

* * *

Kuvira shivered as she waited in the dark. Her hunger was satisfied for now but the unknowing of this meeting was bothering her. It was obvious that this person knew who she was. She glanced up at the sky. The clouds were even dark, threatening to drop frozen rain or even snow. The metalbender was probably too far south at the moment. She tugged at her hood, bringing it down some before crossing her arms. She made up her mind about leaving this mountain town.

In an instant, she turned around to face another dark alley. Her arms were up in defense at the feeling of another nearby. An armored man came out of the dark with his hands up, revealing that he was not holding a weapon.

"How long were you waiting?" the man asked. Kuvira felt like she had seen him before.

"Long enough. What is your proposal?"

The man chuckled, "To the point. It seems the rumors about you are true. Lord Huashi was a fool to dismiss you. He sent his best general to be killed and now his army is lacking, besides the soldiers that can bend iron and steel like it was a twig."

"Don't try to flatter me. It won't work." She returned, "I am quite aware of Lord Huashi's armies, but I may not know you as well. You have not introduced yourself."

"I am Lord Hui-Kun. My forces always seem to falter when they fought against you." The man bowed. She could tell that he was much younger than General Ban. Compared to Huashi, she could only guess that they were closer in age.

"Lord Hui-Kun… Let me guess; you want me to help you against Huashi?"

"I need a general that knows how to win and train men. I am losing my good leaders and now I am being forced to take those wicked fire tossers within my army."

"Thanks but no thanks."

Hui-Kun's brow furrowed together dangerously, "Why not?"

Kuvira smirked, "Because I know a losing side when I see them. Besides, I have an advantage of being born thousands of years in the future. You might as well just give your army to your younger brother now. He may not be as charismatic but he's a better leader, according to history books. He also has two Avatars on his side."

Before Hun-Kun's attack could land, he felt his armor tug back on him. He was tossed away into a stack of boxes. Two more of the Warlord's men were tossed at his feet from their hiding spots.

"It's never wise to attack a metalbender with steel in your armor. Thank you again for the much needed meal though. I guess I never understood what it was like to lose something important..." Kuvira finished, thinking more about Zaofu than the recent meal. She forced the warlord down to the ground before taking off. She needed to find Korra and quickly.


	16. Chapter 16

**And the next one.**

* * *

After escaping from the trading village with minimal trouble, the five of them plus their camel continued through the night towards the library. The chill of the night was soon replaced by the over-barring heat. Nergüi felt like he was dying again.

"It is almost winter, right?" he asked, almost turning it into a complaint.

"Soon." Hong continued, "I believe we are still in the northern parts of the desert, although, it's hard to track where we are exactly."

"I'm having flashbacks to my waterbending teacher's old stories about walking through the desert." Korra muttered, "They were not the best of times."

"Just keep walking." Nobu answered, "We're not there yet."

The mercenary let out another set of ranting before he too quieted down.

When they did reach the library, they all stood outside and basked in its beauty. There were trees, palm trees at the entrance. Nergüi ran to the fountains and splashed some much needed water onto his face. The others decided it was a good idea as well.

Korra let out a weary sigh as they were finally here. Seemingly, their camel was also happy as it walked into the library. She went after it, finding that there were more animals taking in what they could take from the place. It was also a bit tidier than when Jinora had described it. A rush of strong winds flew passed her. The one spirit she had wanted to speak to for a long time finally landed in front of her and all she could do was give him a nasty look.

"Such an interesting look from someone who has been searching for my library." The owl spoke.

"I'm only just remembering of how you betrayed me in the future," Korra then relaxed, "Sorry; I shouldn't be blaming you here. I should save it for when I get back."

The owl's head shifted to his side, "You are the Avatar from the future that the other spirits have mentioned. Fascinating; I would live to pick your mind for the knowledge you have, but I understand this is not the reason for your appearance."

"I need a way home." Korra was now wondering who he spoke to, to learn about her issues, "Who told you about me?"

"Vaatu may be the Great Spirit of Darkness but that does not mean his does not have his own valuable knowledge to share." Wan Shi Tong then shifted again to look past her and onto her comrades, "I will let you pass without having to share any knowledge. What you know could harm the future. Our time is not ready for it but that does not mean that your friends, including the current Avatar, cannot share something."

Korra bowed before the Knowledge Spirit took off into the air. The Avatar had to rearrange her tan robes. She glanced back before heading deeper into the library.

* * *

And she was lost…

Korra had probably wandered too far into the library. She finally settled on an aisle and made herself a chair to sit on. She grabbed a random scroll and decided to read it, finding that it was about living on lion-turtles. Soon enough she found herself reading it out loud to a small gathering of desert animals and a rare bird-like spirit.

Minutes later, she was leaning against a cat-deer as another animal handed her another scroll, "You all are enjoying this?"

"Everyone loves a good story." The one spirit spoke up, "They just cannot read human writing. It also would be a disappointing journey if they came all the way and had to leave without a story."

A dark beetle began to snuggle against her, scaring Korra for a moment, "I was not expecting this."

"What were you expecting?"

Korra blinked for a bit as she was scratching the cat-deer's chin. The purring was distracting. What was she looking for? Right, a way home.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to time travel, would you?" she asked the spirit before looking at the cat-deer, "Cutest little thing. I just want to hug you…"

"Traveling through time? What were you doing before you came here?"

She paused again to get the story right, "I was fighting a dictator when she tried to use her spirit weapon against me but I don't want to have to make another one. I already had to bend the energy around us to avoid killing her."

"Have you tried that again here?"

"No."

"Try it."

Korra blinked again before getting up, "Well, here goes nothing then."

Holding her hands out, she entered the Avatar State trying to willfully recreate the action minus the weapon's part. Then she stopped, "How am I supposed to know if I went forward in time? It could send me back further."

The spirit seemed to shrug at her question. Another scroll was brought to her. Korra was not going to decline. Not to mention that the car-deer was still purring at her back.

"You all are killing me with cuteness right now." She laughed as a few more animals joined them, "Naga and Pabu would be enjoying this too. My question to all of you is; what do you have to bring here as knowledge?"

Next thing she knew, the beetle had pushed her up and onto the cat-deer's back. They led the way to another part of the library. The Knowledge Spirit's assistances then brought her seeds or various kinds. Even the bumble-flies flew over with pollen from around the world.

"Wan Shi Tong keeps seeds and pollen? I don't suppose these can grow after a few thousand years?"

The bird-like spirit shook its head, "I assume that it is for some kind of study about what flora grows around the world. Most plants in your world do not grow in the Spirit World."

Korra agreed. She never knew what to expect each time she went there. From this part of the library, the animals then led her to another. Stories from before the Avatar's time were listed and they kept her busy looking at the tomes. Her eyes grew as she realized what she was looking at.

"These are from the people that lived on the air lion-turtles." She said as she carefully looked through the tome, "You all want another story?"

* * *

She looked up at the man that finally found her. Korra had been hiding in the astrology room after reading a few more stories. Now she was lying under the fake stars. She looked slightly disappointed.

"What are you doing?" the earthbender asked. He looked up, confused as to what she was doing.

"I was hoping that by setting that dial up for today's date in my time that the stars would align. All that I know is that the moon stayed the same." She answered in a weary tone, "I was hoping for something familiar. Now I'm worried that I won't get a chance to go back."

Hong frowned at her sigh. He decided to sit down by her. The earthbender then forced her to sit up with her back to him.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't speak." He shot back before putting his hands on her shoulder. She eventually leaned back into his massage, "Nobu and I will help you find a way back, even if it kills us. Just enjoy your fake stars for a moment."

Korra was quiet for a moment. It really had been a long time since someone did this.

"You're going to put me to sleep." She finally hummed.

"Then go to sleep. We stay as long as you want or until we run out of food and water."

The pleasant thoughts of relaxing were interrupted as Nobu skidded across the floor, slipping into a bookshelf. He quickly recovered and began shouting with a bit of terror in his voice. It was a bit incoherent at first but Hong and Korra quickly understood what he was trying to say.

"Chief Qiang's men are here and threatening to attack. I think he's realized who you are, Korra." He said in a calmer tone, "That and he's angry about Lobsang being in the village. Plus, some of Warlord Huashi's men are outside."

Korra let out a curse before taking off after her counterpart. Her search in the library was over. They met up with Lobsang and Nergüi by the entrance. They could only guess the amount of men that were standing outside waiting for them. It was huddle time as Korra called it.

"Alright," she started, "Any plans?"

"We will have to fight some of them to escape." Hong answered.

"I don't have much water." The mercenary mentioned, "I will only have the fountains."

"Can you use a sword?" the other waterbender asked.

"I can."

Korra nodded before cracking her knuckles, "I'll make sure to get you one then but we need to leave before Wan Shi Tong decides to get involved."

The chief's voice soon called out. He sounded angry. Nobu was not lying.

"Avatar Nobu, you lied to me when you said that your Monk would not enter my village. After all I did for you! You also lied about your friend. I demand your surrender and turn the Avatar of the future over to Lord Huashi!"

The lack of sound after his declaration was deafening. He waited with some apprehension but Lord Huashi sat on his ostrich-horse with patience. They would not enter the owl's library yet as they did not know what to expect from the five they were after nor the owl. A smirk crawled along his face as Korra walked out alone.

"I told you they would not fight me. You can do whatever you like with the Avatar's friends but I want her and the fire tosser." He told the Chief.

Chief Qiang put his fists together, "Of course, Lord Huashi. May you unite the lands under your proud banner."

They watched as Korra stopped between the fountains. She soon called out.

"You want me? Then come take me."

Lord Huashi directed some of his men to take her into his custody. She held her hands out as if she were waiting for them. Then an old familiar, cocky smirk echoed the Warlord's. Her blue eyes flashed bright with light before her fist slammed into the pressed sand. The sand rippled under her power, swallowing the approaching men. She continued through her spin before whipping the army with a blast of sand.

Chief Qiang's men were not expecting a fully realized Avatar. Lord Huashi had left that information out. The chieftain shuddered after another one of her attacks before calling for his men to retreat.

"Come back you cowards!" Lord Huashi shouted, "If you run, I will destroy that village of yours."

By this time, the rest of Korra's company followed. The mercenary was granted a sword after the Water Tribe Avatar stole one from a soldier. As Korra began to wave her arms in a circular pattern, Nobu and Lobsang jumped in and followed her lead. Lord Huashi was forced to cover his face as well as his army.

When he recovered, a trail of sand was off into the distance. They were headed south, further into the desert. It did not matter now; he had an army to dig out and a desert town to take over.

* * *

Their earthen board fell apart, back into sand, as Hong dropped his arms. He looked at his weary friends as they all stood underneath the waning sun. They were now without food and water. He was certain that they were in the middle of the desert.

"We need to decide on where we are going." He said to them, still breathing hard, "Korra, what do you need to do to go home?"

_You somehow found your way here. What possibly happened to cause you to rip open a path here?_

_What were you doing before you came here?_

_I bent a massive amount of energy._

"I think I figured out Koh's cryptic meaning." Korra crossed her arms before looking up into the sky, "I need to head back to Republic City, or where it will be in a few thousand years. I'm going to make a safe guess and feel that this would be best done on the winter solstice since the spirit portals are closed."

The four men eyed her in confusion. They did not understand what she was rambling on about.

"Nobu and I need to recreate the power of a 'spirit weapon' since I don't know how to actually make one. Nor do I feel like making one…"

"A what?" Nobu raised a brow in confusion. Korra gave him a grin.

"I guess I will have to teach you something after all. I am going to teach you how to bend the world's energy. I also need you to be able to enter the Spirit World." She shook her head with a short chuckle, "We are going to recreate a massive amount of focused energy that the world has yet to see."


	17. Chapter 17

**Note to self: I really need to keep notes when I write stories. It would save me from having to go back and reread everything... Anyways, here's the next one. I'm figuring that I have about another ten or so chapters before this one is completed. I did plan for this one to go on longer than most other stories of mine. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Two days had passed since they were at the library. Hong and Korra tried to speed their way out of the desert with some earthbending but without much water to drink, they were forced to stop. Their faces were already burned from the sun and their lips were chapped. Nobu and his counterpart were taking turns keeping a flame in their hand during the cold night as they did not have wood for a proper fire.

"This stinks." Nergüi said. He was voicing what everyone else was thinking.

"I told you to stop saying that. It's not helping with morale." The earthbender muttered. He was trying to sleep, leaning against the walls of their makeshift shelter.

The waterbender whined, "I can't help it. I'm hungry, thirsty and I need a woman or two to lie with."

Korra and Lobsang were leaning back-to-back. They were both sleeping, if one could consider it sleep. The others could only guess when they both fell asleep. The Water Tribe Avatar had been trying to meditate with him before someone heard a snore from her.

Nobu switched which hand held a fire before answering, "We'll find something. It's just another obstacle to get through."

He made sure to wake everyone before the sun came up. The sooner they took off, the less walking they would have to do in the sun. It was going to be another day of weaving around the sand dunes. Time slowed down for them. Nothing changed for them as they continued to drag their feet. Nobu was afraid of stopping as they did not know who would drop first.

Then he heard something drop behind him. The mercenary had collapsed from the extreme heat. Korra was already making a shelter to get him out of the sun when Nobu reached them. She was giving him a worried look as she was using what was left of their water to cool him down.

"Can we move him?" he asked.

"It's not even midday. If we go, he'll probably overheat again." She responded.

Shadows soon showed up, flying around them. Nobu cringed at the sight of the buzzard-wasps. His stomach rumbled reminding him that they had not eaten in a few days. He felt a flare-up of anger before shooting a flame into the sky at one. Frustration was consuming him and he knew that some of the others were feeling it too. Someone was going to perish. He knew that they could not make it here without water.

He looked at the faces of the others. Some of them had growing rashes from the sun. Nobu was sure that he shared the same look as they have not had much cover to hide under unless Hong or Korra made something from the sand. Nobu glanced up at the buzzard-wasps one last time before joining everyone under the make-shift tent.

* * *

She turned a sharp corner, skidding around, as she ran through the streets. Windows were bursting around her as some of the stone walls crumbled. That thing was following and crackles of thunder shouted at her from above. It was a daunting chase and he was not giving up. Zaheer was trying to kill her and he had the spirit cannon as his disposal.

A booming explosion went off by her ear as she was tossed aside. The ground shook as Korra was trying to recover. Another went off, shooting dust into the air. As it began to settle, a pair of glowing eyes met her. She breathed in sharply as the dust revealed a battle scarred Nobu with chains around his wrists and ankles. A look of murder was on his face. Then another boom went off.

_One of us is going to die in the Avatar State, Korra. There is an imbalance of good. Are you ready to fall?_

Korra shot up from her nightmare. Her breathing was heavy as she was mentally telling herself that she was fine. The echoes of a thundering boom brought her attention to the outside of the tent. Sand was send into the air at the lightning strikes going on around them. It eased her mind to know that the thunder and lightning was the cause of her nightmare. It had been some time since she last had one to the same extreme.

But while the storm brought fear, it also brought relief. The patter of rain rang throughout the desert before becoming a downpour. It was a much needed and welcoming sound. The others stirred as she reached for all of the water skins. A large stone bowl was made before she started to gather the rain. The others were simply letting it fall over them.

Once the water skins were full, they each drank from the stone bowl. Korra guided water over to their ill-friend. Nergüi thanked her for the water before setting back down. Lobsang thanked the spirits for bringing them rain before Nobu hugged him and roughed up the airbender's growing hair.

The rain would not last long though. The desert left them soaked until the sun started to rise. Then all of the moisture would evaporate. It at least gave Korra enough to ease their sunburned faces some.

* * *

Five days after the attack at the library left them still wandering but now brown grasslands began to show up. Hunger still loomed over them, leeching their energy away. They had no luck finding anything to eat. The mercenary mentioned something about eating insects but finding enough of them would take away from trying to get to the coast.

They were grateful that the weather was cooling around them. The mountains in front of them already had snow on their peaks. The five of them were hiking without saying anything. Their thoughts were elsewhere as they marched in a single file. Korra was currently leading them but like the others, she was a bit lost in her hunger. She did not realize she stepped on a trap until the thin wicker mat broke under her foot.

Luck was on her side as she caught sight of the sharpened, wooden posts at the bottom. She managed to remove them before softly landing. Korra called up to the others about being fine. Their response was to hurry and return as a dust cloud was now coming towards them. Mounted fighters came charging in with spears. Some of them proved that they were also a mixed gathering of water and earthbenders. They circled around the weakened travelers; their weapons aimed into the circle.

The leader rode up on his ostrich-horse. He ran two fingers along his thin moustache as he spoke with a grin.

"What do we have here? Desert folk that actually managed to get themselves lost?"

"We do not have anything of worth on us. We're tired, hungry and in great need to bathe." Hong answered.

"And who are you to request such things?" the man asked as he removed his wide-rimmed fur hat.

Nobu stepped forward, "The Avatar requests your aid if you are not thieves."

"Thieves?" the man laughed, causing his followers to join in, "No Avatar, we are the Lord-less warriors. We are dishonored and left in our own folly. We follow no orders but our own. What makes you think we will aid you?"

"I can provide a chance to regain what honor you all lost. I tend to end this massive world war for good and create a nation for each of the four elements to live in peacefully. I need men to fight these no good warlords."

"Warlord Huashi already tried to recruit us. We are not interested in rejoining this fight. Besides, there is already an army under the banner of the Avatar."

"It is not my banner though." Nobu responded with a bit of annoyance, "They do not follow the Avatar's word, only a poser using his family's name. I need help fighting for the people; all of them. I am not to be another warlord to own others."

The man glanced at each of them, scrutinizing them in his thoughts. The other armed men were still waiting on a command.

"We will take you to our camp to recover. Then we, as a leaderless band, will discuss your plan. We have a mind to worry about how Lord Huashi will take our refusal. If you truly plan on freeing everyone from this forever-going war, then we may decide to follow you, Avatar." He then gave the order for everyone to return to their camp.

"Do you have a name?" Nobu called out.

"Nilaq."

Korra smiled some. At least someone had a similar sounding name.

* * *

She soon found out that their camp was more like a small village within a thick bamboo forest. The villages were weary at first but they too, like most other villages they went through, opened their homes to Avatar Nobu and his friends. Some of them shared that the Lord-less warriors were welcomed to stay if they protected the village. They had issues with thieves but for the most part they were left alone.

Korra was walking through the village, inspecting it over. Nobu was busy playing with the few children around. She knew that Hong was around with Nilaq. Lobsang was meditating and she did not want to guess where Nergüi was.

The Water Tribe Avatar followed the road into the forest. She had been spending the last few days preparing for what she would need to teach Nobu in order for her plan to work. She continued along the same road she always followed. From the corner of her eye, she caught another path that was not as used. She stopped to ponder it for a moment. Glancing down either way of the well used path, she shrugged and started down the new path.

"A change of scenery won't hurt." She told herself.

The path was quiet except for the sounds of her feet going through the snow. It was crazy that days before, she was burning in the desert and now she was in the mountains shivering. She really needed to explore the world some more when she returned to her time.

The path opened to a waterfall and a small collection of water. She smiled as she rushed to pull her worn boots off.

"Bath time." She grinned, "I never thought I would wish for one this bad."

Remembering the last time she went skinny-dipping, Korra kept her bindings on. At first, she leaped into the cold water. It felt good for a moment before she had to heat the pool up. Moments later, she was staring into a smoothly made, piece of ice. Her brow twitched some as she noticed that dark spots were appearing where the sunburn from the desert was. She knew the others also had new ones. Nergüi had teased Nobu after she had healed the burns away.

Speaking of her counterpart, she watched as he jogged over, "Hey. Are you busy?"

"No, I suppose not." Korra hummed, "If you call trying to take a bath nothing."

Nobu looked over the steaming pool, "Will you not be cold after leaving the water?"

"I'll be cold," she responded as she adjusted in the water to heat it up some more, "But there's always waterbending and firebending to help.

"Mind if I join you?"

Her brow twitched slightly as she answered through her teeth, "Why not?"

"Anyways, I wanted to ask about getting into the Spirit World since you were going to teach me." He continued as he took the desert robes off, "I want to see this place since you keep going there."

"I'm not exactly going there for my own enjoyment." She deadpanned.

"I just want to be the best Avatar I can be. I mean, you have so much power and I have still having trouble with water." He sighed, "It's not like I have the best past lives to call on for help, but you knew that already."

"And you already know my answer," she chuckled before grinding her teeth a bit, "Past lives are overrated anyways. I've spend most of my time finding my own path since I lost the connection to them."

"You mean that you can't just call us up anymore?" he then let out a long sigh, "I suppose it is good that I never brought up that idea."

Korra nodded, "I suppose that would have made this experience easier than traveling around the past with you. Then again, I wouldn't be learning about what happened during your time."

She then ran a hand through her hair. The snags reminded her that she needed to brush it all out. Instead, she remade the ice mirror and a sharp icicle. Korra would again cut her hair off at her jaw line before burning what was in her hand. She then stood to dry herself off and gather her clothes.

"If you want to learn how to get into the Spirit World then you better get out. Our luck, we would get stuck there only to find ourselves encased in ice when we returned."

"Good point."

He would follow her lead as she explained the process she was going to lead him through.

"I really don't know what to expect, Nobu," she spoke with caution, "You haven't been in the Avatar State yet and the spiritual energy isn't strong here at all. I can't promise anything will happen."

"If it doesn't happen then it won't."

"Let's just hope that it doesn't go like my first time getting there."

"What happened?"

Korra cringed, "Uh, I'll tell you after we manage to get into the Spirit World."

It would not take her long to reach the other side. When she opened her eyes, she frowned. Nobu was not near the Tree of Time. She figured that it would take more than once to finally make it. After giving Vaatu a nasty comment, she returned. Nobu was still sitting in the position. She called his name and began to worry when he did not respond. After prying open an eye to find that his were a familiar blue, she sighed.

"Shit. Not again."


	18. Chapter 18

**My excuse for this being late this time is RPing on Lord of the Rings Online too much...**

* * *

On one hand, Nobu was excited to be here. On the other, he was a bit worried that Korra was not with him. After looking at the withered trees, he hoped that they would find each other. It was not the case. He could not see her anywhere and she did not answer when he called.

"One of you will die, Avatar." A slinking spirit said, moving around him as if it was waiting to strike, "The world's unbalanced. There is too much light, blinding us from what needs to be done."

"Is there a way that too much light can do harm?" he asked as he climbed onto a root. The firebending Avatar would take a seat, "Would it not be good?"

Nobu watched as the spirit slinked around for another pass. Its tone changed from displeasure to irritation. It sped up before making another pass around him.

"Too much light makes one feel content. He or she loses what it knows as fear because there is nothing to worry over."

"So to balance everything while she is here, we need more conflict?"

"Perhaps," the spirit circled again, "but the best way would be for one of you to perish, ending that line or for her to return. If she can of course."

"Do you doubt that she will be able to return?" He was not humoring the idea of Korra having to die to return balance.

"I can safely say that I have never seen such a case. Beware Avatar; both worlds will attempt to rid itself of one of you. Do not tarry here too long. You do not know of the dangers here in the Spirit World."

The spirit would soon evaporate away to somewhere else leaving Nobu alone in the Spirit World's brown marsh. He pulled his legs closer in order to hug them tightly. Thoughts of the warning were dragging his thoughts through hypothetical mud. He wished Korra was with him to talk everything over.

From the corner of his eye, he saw movement. His hands went up in defense as he got up to his feet. Nobu put his defenses away when he saw that it was no one to worry about. Standing below the root was a monk.

"How did you get here? I thought I was alone?" Nobu said with a bit of surprise.

"I am here because you needed help from someone that has not contributed to this on-going war."

"You are not who I wish was here."

"Am I now? Young Nobu, you do not want the aid from the Avatar before you and the one before him was partially at fault for what you are fighting to stop. I think that you did call upon me, even if it was a mistake."

Nobu's brow rose, "Who are you?"

The monk's white eyebrows rose with a sense of humor, "I am Avatar Tsewang. I will teach you what I thought it meant to be the Avatar after Wan."

* * *

Another boulder shot up from the ground as Korra continued to defend her counterpart. Moments after her return, a couple scouts from one of the warlords found them. Now they were at a standoff, mostly because the two scouts did not know how to deal with her attacks and counters. She had been tossing them around as they tried to attack but she could not escape with Nobu. They were both hiding behind a needed wall of stone, preventing her from grabbing him.

"You two aren't that afraid of me, are you?" she grinned behind an upright boulder, "Come on; show me what you got? I'm not letting you have him without putting up a fight."

She could hear them speaking to each other. Korra was not fond of their planning. She took the time granted to her to look around in case of others. Satisfied that no one else was sneaking up on her, she focused on the two before her. Moments later, one of them was attacking while the sound of a horn sounded.

Korra ducked her head as a rock came too close to where she was peeking over from. The action left her angered. The Water Tribe Avatar was finishing this fight before their friends could show. The boulder she was hiding behind was blasted forward at the first warrior. His arms went up to break the attack but the waterfall nearby was ripped from the small brook. The man was sent into the bamboo stalks.

The other man realized that he was not just fighting an earthbender. He gave Korra a confused look before he also was tossed away.

She did not waste time grabbing the taller Avatar and hoisting him onto her shoulders to be carried back to the village. Her worn shoes made running in the snow trickier until she reached the used road. The rest of her traveling companions were at the edge of the village, preparing for what the horn called for. They were already dressed in spared armor as the village was quickly preparing for a fight. Even the airbending monk was wearing armor, although the look on his face told her that he was not enjoying it.

"What happened?" Hong asked as he came running towards her.

"Nobu and I were about to make a trip into the Spirit World, only we did not meet up. Then we were attacked and now I feel like a larger fight is coming and Nobu is still in the Spirit World." She said quickly.

Hong turned to Lobsang, "Take Nobu down with the villagers and protect him. We cannot let him be harmed in his current state."

Korra's brow rose in concern when Hong addressed her next, "Korra, as the Avatar, the Lord-less are yours to command until Nobu returns."

"Look, it's not my place." She started, "I may be the Avatar but I'm not Nobu. I can't step in to change anything."

"You're not fighting then." The earthbender commented.

"I never said that." She said as she placed a hand to her hip, "I'm not trying to change the world. If I were not here, who would be leading this defense?"

"Most likely Nilaq or I."

Korra gave him a smug look, "Well, chop chop. We don't have much time and we need a plan or something."

Hong let out a growl at her smugness, "Follow me, Korra. Let's get you prepared."

Moments later, Nergüi and Hong were teasing her about her attempt to get a spare suit of armor on. She was spinning around trying to tie some of the straps in the back. Nilaq and another of his fellow warriors were giving them questionable looks but they did not Korra as well as the rest. Then Nilaq handed each of them a white shawl. It looked silly when each of them were still wearing the white robes from the desert.

"It is what we have been wearing since we no longer belong to a Lord."

Hong gave the waterbender a look of disbelief, "I hope it changed after you join us then. Perhaps you all should add more green into it."

"I was thinking more of a lovely rose color." Nergüi added, "No man wants to die by another wearing pink!"

Korra and Nilaq looked at each other before shaking their heads. Their conversation was cut short by another warrior alerting them to an incoming army. They reached the bamboo walls. Several earthbenders tilted the wall out towards the army while a couple of waterbenders cut the shoots with an angled, sharpened tip. They could see the other army set up earthen discs. With a long sigh, she tied her given helmet to her head like the rest of them were doing. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Nobu was still listening to the other Avatar. He learned that being the second Avatar was not better than where he was. Avatar Tsewang did not understand what he was and it scared the other monks he grew up and studied with. Enlightenment was made his first priority until he first spoke to Wan. Wan spoke of the fighting and urged him to try and stop it. His lifestyle as a monk kept him out of the wars that were building up again from Wan's death. He tried to convince the growing warlords from building armies but he did not prevail.

"We were separated on the lion-turtles. We cannot live together as there is little respect of others. My advice to you, Nobu; separate the elements and stop the fighting."

"One moment," Nobu jumped up to stop him, "Is this the best way? Avatar Korra seemed hesitant to agree to my idea. I just want to make the best of this duty I have been given. I was supposed to be a blacksmith."

The monk stood in silence, "Then perhaps you need to speak with her."

* * *

Hong wiped his brow as he and Korra deflected another earthen disc from hitting the town. Their helmets had been discarded minutes into the fight. They were more of a hindrance in catching where the discs were going.

Shaking the pain from the fight out, Korra spoke softly, "Those discs are no joke. They just keep-"

She was interrupted by shouts of warning. The sky darkened for a moment before the arrows began raining down and over the walls. They hit anything in the open, dropping a few unlucky warriors that were unable to shield themselves. A hut then collapsed as a disc hit it. The earthbenders were unable to stop it.

From the start of the fight, they assumed it was Warlord Huashi's army. The question was answered when iron pieces were shot their way. Everyone felt a bit of metal hit them somewhere. Korra pulled a piece out of her armor's front piece.

"Alright," she sighed, "We cannot defeat metalbenders when no one here knows how to fight them."

"You are not going to hold back then?"

She gave the surrounding men a quick pout before nodding, "I am going to wreck Lord Huashi's world. Kuvira caused him to gain skills no one should have right now. Everyone stay down."

What metal that was around, and not embedded in her fellow warriors, was gathered. As the earthbenders rebuilt their wall, she began to heat them. Korra gave Hong and Nergüi a nod before leaping over the wall and returning the burning iron. The earthbender and waterbender followed. While they would not be able to help with the metalbending, they could try and keep some of the attacks off of her.

The bamboo forest was soon turned into a weapon of its own as the shoots were braking from the volleys. The Avatar placed a hand on her eyebrow and temple from where a splinter cut across. It was hectic and she was glad for the armor given to her. Each attack and counter added to the chaos.

Hong called out about another earth disc. Tired of this back and forth, Korra leaped forward to catch the disc herself. The same dragging feeling that had been haunting her ran through her muscles as the Avatar State flashed on. The disc was sent back as well as the called wave from the snow and debris on the ground. The enemy soldiers were frozen as they attempted to flee.

* * *

When Nobu and Lobsang left the shelter, they saw that the village was full of men from Huashi's army and the Lord-Less warriors. The prisoners were being searched for anything of value. From where he was standing, Nilaq and Hong were discussing something. Korra looked angrier than he had ever seen her before. Besides pinching her nose, he did not know how she was holding it in.

"What happened?"

"Huashi's army attacked us once they found out that you were here." Hong responded, "We are discussing the best course for these prisoners."

"Some of them are the 'metalbenders' as Korra states they are." Nilaq added, "But they will not tell us who can move iron and whom cannot."

Then Nobu's counterpart spoke. As calm as she sounded, Korra still looked angry and uncertain, "As far as I am concerned, the secret to metalbending cannot pass from these men. If they will not speak then treat them as if they are able to."

"Korra," Nobu spoke softly, "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

"Take it for what you think I mean. Don't make me regret this decision. Metalbending cannot be taught to anyone else. Just make it painless." She said before walking off.

Everyone watched as she walked off. They stood in silence until Nilaq spoke up.

"I hate to have to interrupt this," the waterbender looked determined, "But before we can even decide on leaving this village to join you Avatar Nobu, we have to make sure there will be no brigands or other armies about."

Nobu let the breath he was holding before nodding, "Alright. Let's get a small group to search the land surrounding us."


	19. Chapter 19

The next week was spent searching and getting rid of any signs of Huashi's army and some element training with his companions. Nergüi, Hong and Nilaq spent most of their time leading the search and destroying the remains of the army. It was not all of Lord Huashi's army but those that did speak informed them that his army had been cut down in numbers. Either way, it presented Nobu with a situation with one less warlord to worry about.

With plans for one last search, he had hopes that Korra would finally join them. She had been spending most of her time away from the village. Her decision to not fight for the lives of the metalbenders was taking its toll on her mind. He knew she was having nightmares over it. The night watch often answered his questions when he wanted to follow her.

He found her standing under the waterfall in nothing but her bindings. Unlike the last time he met up with her in this place, the water was not heated. He felt goosebumps and he was not even standing under the water.

"Korra," he spoke, startling her, "What are you doing?"

She let out a sigh before stepping out, "Reminding myself that I am still human, after all that has happened."

He walked closer. With how she had been feeling the past few days, he did not want to ask much more than what he came for, "We are going on one last scouting if you would like to come. We should be moving on afterward. There are a few towns along the coast that I want to enter and recruit for aid."

She looked away as she nodded, "Alright. I'll come. Let me grab my things first."

* * *

The remaining bamboo forest surrounded them as they marched in single file. A light snowfall came through and the stillness added to their calming march. They were heading further into the mountains as the path they were taking as becoming steeper. The bamboo forest was slowly forming into trees the higher they went.

The scouting party included Nobu's companions and a few of the Lord-Less archers. They were hoping to catch Lord Huashi and what remained of his leadership. With Huashi in their custody, Nobu would have one less warlord to deal with.

Korra was watching the ground before, searching out things to trip over when something red ran over her feet. She threw her arms up in surprise as Nergüi put his arms out to stop her from falling backwards. Then something else came out of the bushes. The waterbenders felt something hit their necks before falling to the ground.

The rest of the warriors drew their weapons as the fire ferret ran up a tree. The larger animal, after losing its lunch, turned its focus to the men. It growled, ready to lash its spiked tongue out.

"Shirshu." One of the archers called out as he and the rest of the Lord-Less men stepped back, "It is a younger one but still as dangerous."

"Let it out then." Nobu said as he put a hand out to stop Hong from attacking the animal.

As they were dealing with the shirshu, Korra and Nergüi were left to recover from the paralyzing toxins. The mercenary was laughing from under her.

"I only wish that the toxins didn't take away feeling. Oh cruel world! I finally have you in my arms yet I can't do anything about it."

"You're about to get buried, pal. As soon as I can move, you will be six feet under for good." Korra growled, watching the fire ferret jump into the next tree to make its escape. She soon sighed, "Can someone move me off of him?"

The airbender and one of the archers grabbed her by the front plate before dragging her away. Lobsang apologized as she was set down under a tree. The monk gave her a sad look as he had nothing to help her overcome this.

"Don't mind me then," she started, "Make sure Nobu doesn't get eaten or anything. I won't be going anywhere."

The monk glanced over, smiling as he noticed that Nobu was now standing in front of the animal, speaking to it in a calming tone, "Is it true that the Avatar always finds an animal friend?"

If Korra could move, she would have looked away. Thoughts of Naga hit her, causing her answer to come out coarse, "Yeah."

The monk gave her a smile, "Cheer up Avatar Korra. You will be home soon. Besides, you have a lovely smile. You should show it off some more."

She let out a chuckle, "Thanks Lobsang. I appreciate it."

The monk then sat down besides her to help occupy her mind with other better thoughts while she recovered. They sat and watched Nobu try to convince the others that the beast would not harm them anymore. Lobsang then tried to get her into a game of haikus.

The monk continued to win until Korra could finally put a hand up to count syllables out. By the time the scouting team was ready to head back, the duo was bantering back and forth. It continued until they reached the village with Korra finally stopping because of a headache.

* * *

A few more days would go by before the new army gathered their belongings to leave. The villagers, often family of some of the Lord-Less, stopped all work to wish them the best in their endeavors. Unknown to all of the warriors, including Nobu and Hong, the women of the village presented them with a different color of shawl to wear around their necks. Korra, graciously took one, bowing to the woman that held one out. After thanking her, she opened it to change out the old one. She hummed with a snort at the pattern she immediately recognized. It was a deep blue with a white lotus pattern on it. She also sighed when Hong raised a new banner in the same pattern.

"Lovely." she muttered before mounting her ostrich-horse.

* * *

Nobu now led the warriors out of the south on the backs of commandeered ostrich-horses from Huashi's army. With their new banner leading the way, they hoped that more would come to fight with them for the good of the world. His plan was to follow along the coast to take Korra back to where she needed to be. On the way, he hoped to find a few more villages that were willing to join him. And while She wanted to attempt to sail westward to the islands, Hong and Korra were not thrilled about trying to sail again with known pirates around.

He knew that he had a good mixture of earth and water masters but a want and need of his own kin was calling to him. For him to find them though, he knew that he had to sail west or march north-west past where Korra needed to go.

The shirshu was now following him like any common pet would. He did not mind it except for then the beast would try to lick him. After what had happened to Korra and Nergüi, he did not want to experience it.

He glanced back at his counterpart. She seemed a bit frustrated at the thick, woven outer garment she was given. She called it something, like a potato sack or something of the sort. When Hong tried to ease her mind, she went off on a potato rant before sticking her tongue out at him. At least she is feeling better, he thought.

"This thing is itchy." He heard her say. She was adjusting the loaned armor again trying to reach a certain spot to get rid of the itch.

"We'll camp soon." Nilaq shouted from the front of the ranks.

Nobu was glad to have Nilaq join him. The man, along with Hong, often guided him on where to search for volunteers. He also had important news on where Hong's brother was. Hun-Kun was last spotted in between the current mountains they were in and along the coast further west. Nilaq was curious as to why he was this far south but with Nobu around, the waterbender now understood.

"Can we stop in a town with a lovely brothel?" the firebending Avatar heard the mercenary speak up, "The nights have been lonely and Korra still will not talk to me."

Nilaq let out a sigh as he pulled his wide-rimmed, fur hat down around his jaw. He then ran his fingers on his thinly trimmed moustache, "If you are lucky, the next village will have one. Don't get too excited though. We're too far from the coast and not north enough for them."

Another hour would go by before a village appeared. Hong shouted out his commands for the small army to halt. He, Nobu and Nilaq would soon head into the village, entrusting command to the next man. Nergüi gave them a mock salute before squeezing Lobsang in a tight one-arm hug.

"Come Monk. Let's get this camp made. I'm starving."

* * *

After helping with setting up tents and getting fires going, Korra ventured off into the woods. Her ostrich-horse was not the best of rides she had ever ridden and there were muscles to work soreness out of. The camp was still in sight when she stopped to sit. Her arms went around her tucked knees and she watched the warriors move throughout the camp.

With a clank, she fell back against the ground. Her hands went to the helmet clasp and she tugged the thing off. After moving her arms and legs around in the snow, she laid there with her eyes closed. It was quiet, giving her a moment to take in the silence. She was about to zone out the noise from the camp when a twig snapped.

She rolled to a knee before sending the ground before her to rumble. The earth was calmed before small rocks were sent at her. Korra brought up a wall before finally spotting the person in the woods. The other person had stopped to catch the sight of the Water Tribe Avatar. Korra saw the person's green eyes widen before hearing her own name be called out.

"Korra."

She let down the earthen wall before realizing who it was. The Avatar's attack was swift to pin the woman to a tree.

"You're still alive." Her statement was not a question in surprise. Korra was not happy to see her. She snarled, giving Kuvira a nasty look.

With a grab of the other woman's chin, Korra gave her a better look. Kuvira looked like she had not had a good meal in weeks and the woman's clothes were barely staying together. The metalbender's feet were blistered and blackened from being bare and in the cold. It was almost fitting since their last meeting.

"What do you want, Kuvira?" She let go of the metalbender's chin. By then, Nergüi, Lobsang and a few of the warriors came rushing up to them.

Kuvira looked at the new faces before speaking low, "I wanted to tell you that you were right about messing around with the past. I let my pride get to me again and now I need help."

"Now you're sorry." Korra chuckled softly before almost shouting at the woman, "It's been a year, Kuvira! We have been thousands of years in the past for a year! Not just that but each and every time I tried to get you to help me get us home, you stab me in the back. Please; humor me as to why I shouldn't leave you stuck to this tree?"

When the metalbender did not respond, she grabbed Kuvira's chin again and tugged at it with another snarl. After staring at the woman's green eyes for a moment, Korra snorted once more before stepping away saying nothing but to call everyone to leave her.

Only Lobsang lingered back. He helped get the stones out of the tree and helped her down. Kuvira sat down, holding her head in her hands. She lost herself in her pitiful thoughts before hearing the monk clear his throat. He was holding a hand out for her to take.

"The first step to forgiveness is to forgive yourself for your actions and accept that they have happened. If you linger and blame yourself, you will never find happiness."

Kuvira hesitated. He gave her a smile, "Come on. I have soup and rice for you, if you would like to join me in a meal."

"Will Korra ever forgive me for what I did to her?" her words came out weak.

"She may," the monk shrugged, "Or she may not, but you will never get another chance to go home if you die in the cold here."

Without a better choice ahead of her, Kuvira took his hand and followed him back to the camp.


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm not happy with this chapter... but it's done. I have the urge to finish this story in a few chapters. but I haven't completely made up my mind. There's still a lot I want to do.**

* * *

Kuvira had been sitting on the outside of the camp since joining them. The monk would bring her food and sit with her to chat about a various amount of topics. The first few days, she would just listen to him talk. Days later, she would return answers to his questions. After two weeks of heading north, she conversed with the monk.

He had also tried to help her with her feet by wrapping them with parts of his robe. The frostbite stained her feet with its brutal marks and it caused her to walk slowly. The airbender was happy to walk behind the marching army with her. Everyone else in the growing band would avoid her when they could. Korra, flat-out, avoided her. Lobsang brought her bowls of food and had to convince the Water Tribe Avatar to let him have an extra bowl.

"I have never seen her so stubborn." The monk said, "She has been kind since I've met her. We have a lot of work to do to correct your path."

"I fear being forgotten, not her anger." Kuvira said as she took the bowl of rice and broth, "I only want to return home to our time and hope that she does not lock me in a hole, only to forget that I am there. Though, it seems like that is the path I am being dragged down."

"You understand your past faults. After our meal, we will continue to correct your path, if you would like."

The former dictator looked at him in question, "Like some path to enlightenment that you yourself seek?"

"If you would like to call it that, yes." Lobsang then grinned, "I have never had a student before. I look forward to being your teacher."

Kuvira gave him a nod before continuing to eat.

* * *

The snow was beginning to recede when Kuvira sat down at a small brook. The army was still heading north but stopped for another chance to recruit. She guessed that Lobsang had been dragged into town because Korra held out a bowl of food for her.

"I made sure to put some meat on it," her words were a bit forced, "I wasn't told how far you were going with Lobsang's teachings, so if you aren't eating meat, I can get you another bowl."

Kuvira looked up before reaching for it, "It will do. I'm in no place to argue about what to eat."

Then Korra surprised her. The Avatar sat down with her own bowl and started to eat. Kuvira was about to open her mouth to speak when she was interrupted.

"Don't." Korra quickly said, not looking at the former dictator, "I know you are only apologizing because you are in a bad spot and now need me to get home. We're not friends and don't think that I like the idea of helping you now." She turned her head to give Kuvira a slight glare before returning to her bowl.

They both sat in silence. Kuvira was left wishing that Lobsang was here to break up the stillness with some poem or teachings. Strangely, it was Korra that interrupted the silence after she quickly ate. She had placed her bowl on the ground before pulling off her raggedly torn boots. The cloths that had been used as socks were unfolded and the Avatar pulled out two clean ones.

"Here," she said as she moved in front of the former dictator, "Let's take care of your feet before they fall off."

"I don't need your boots. Besides, they look like they are about to fall apart."

Korra gave her a glaring look, "Just give me your feet and eat your food. You're lucky Lobsang got to my conscious."

With her last statement, the Avatar brought up water from the brook. Ignoring the metalbender's complaints, she started to heal what she could.

"You're lucky to have toes after this. How long have you been barefoot?" the Avatar sounded concerned.

"Since I first started working with Lord Huashi. I lost my boots after he tried killing me." Kuvira said, holding back cries of pain as Korra hand her hands over her feet, "Are you trying to break my toes off?"

Korra shook her head, "I'm not cutting your toes off. Sit still."

Kuvira stopped eating to watch the other woman. The Avatar finished healing what she could before wrapping the frostbitten feet in the white cloth. She then put the boots on the metalbender before wrapping the old cloth around holes in the arch of the boots.

"I'll look for better boots for the both of us when we find a village. Your feet will appreciate it." Korra said before quickly smiling.

The smile did not last long though when she sat down beside the former dictator. The Avatar had other things to do like pull her blue sleeves from her arms and stick them on her feet for warmth. Even the sleeves looked really to fall apart but somehow Korra kept using them.

"At this rate, I'll be just as naked as you." She muttered, "I really need to find some clothes that I am not patching up every step I take."

Kuvira was in the middle of stuffing her fingers, full of food, into her mouth. Either way, she was still not sure if she should respond or not. Judging from the other woman's look, she was supposed to. The metalbender swallowed before answering.

"At least we will both look foolish."

The Avatar surprised her by laughing. She nodded and quickly urged the metalbender to eat.

* * *

Lobsang informed the metalbender that Hong had taken them on a detour. He had mentioned something about a promise he wanted to keep to Korra and Nobu. The small company gave each other confused looks until they realized that they were heading into a festival. The Festival of Color as Hong added. He was grinning widely when he told them that they were in his home village.

It was one of the better looking villages Kuvira had seen since coming back into the past. Lanterns were hanging at rooftops and fireworks were being moved for a later show. There was already music playing and people were dancing. People soon recognized Hong and welcoming him home. Once word got out that he was traveling with Avatar Nobu and that they were not being conquered, they wanted a display of his bending. Nobu complied.

Later in the evening, Kuvira was sitting alone on a box with a bottle in her hand. A hood covered her face as she was not interested in the festival or being bothered at all. She had watched everyone go off earlier, covered in enough colored dust to fill a large room. Korra was busying dancing with a man that promised to make new boots. She was pretty sure that Nergüi had a few women falling for his disgusting charms. Nobu was off somewhere and Hong was continuing to meet those welcoming him home or dancing with a few friends.

The metalbender was soon joined by the airbender. Lobsang was blushed in the face and stuttering about something.

"What's got you red in the face?" Kuvira asked, "Besides dust."

"Some of the women are becoming… too friendly."

The metalbender gave him a blank look before patting the box, "Sit. They won't bother you with me here."

"Why's that?"

Kuvira grinned, "Because I will make sure that they become friendly with the ground."

"As much as I do not appreciate their approaching intentions, I will not condone violence."

The metalbender stayed silent, hitting the monk with the back of her hand into his chest. In the hand was the bottle. The monk pushed it away, mentioning that he was going to meditate. Kuvira shrugged his answer and instead moved her focus on the dancing. She saw that Korra and Hong were conversing. The earthbender seemed to have asked something personal as Korra looked unsure of her answer. Inquires about it would have to be made later.

She was left to her miserable thoughts until the monk spoke up again, "Why are you not out there dancing? I remember you said that you danced once."

"I'm not in the mood."

She then heard the long sigh, "Come along, Kuvira. We mustn't forget what makes us happy."

* * *

The next day, she was dragged out of a makeshift bed by the waterbending Avatar. It was late in the afternoon and they needed to speak with a shoe maker and a tailor about clothes that were not falling apart. Kuvira complained about an aching head. She had spent the rest of the night dancing with Lobsang and while the monk stayed away from all drink, she did not. The rest of the night was blurry and from the ostrich-horse smells and a mess around her, Kuvira had fallen asleep in a stable using a stack of hay as bedding.

Their walk to the tailor was silent. Both were recovering from the night before. Kuvira was soon being fitted for a short brown robe and green trousers when Korra went for a quick walk as she waited her turn. The two switched and the metalbender soon found herself walking along the top of the wall.

A couple of the town guards greeted her cheerfully. The moment ended when they all noticed a familiar banner heading towards the town. As the guards went for the warning bell, Kuvira was already running towards the tailor to warn Korra. The Avatar was in the midst of measurements.

"Warlord Hui-kun," she shouted out of breath, "His army is right outside."

Korra apologized to the tailor, paid for his work and joined the metalbender in finding Nobu and Hong.


End file.
